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The Salt Lake Snowcast is back this weekend with an interview with Sam Kapacinksas. Sam will be sharing a story with us from an avalanche in 2016 that he was caught and carried in, and then walked away from mostly unscathed. We'll talk about how that day has influenced his trajectory as a backcountry skier. It’s honestly been one of my favorite interviews I’ve done on the Salt Lake Snowcast. Before we jump into that, I’ll give a quick update on backcountry conditions and avalanche hazard. A big storm is on deck for this later week so enjoy the sunshine while we have it. March is always my favorite month of the year so don't give up on Winter yet!

UAC report from the Birthday Chutes Avalanche.

Salt Lake Tribune article

Avalanche Hour podcast Part 1

Avalanche Hour podcast Part 2

The Salt Lake Snowcast is supported by Alpha Coffee. If you visit Alpha, make sure you mention the Salt Lake Snowcast and you’ll get a free sticker! Another way to support the show is to become a member via buymeacoffee.com/saltlakesnowcast. You can also share the podcast with your friends and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for the love and we'll be back soon!

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After short break last week, the Snowcast is back today to talk about current conditions. I'm joined on the show by my friend, local guide, and avalanche forecaster Cody Hughes. Talking with Cody last week, we both had the same gut feeling about our snowpack: it's dangerous, complex, and makes us both uncomfortable. Our goal with this weekend's episode is to share some knowledge and do our part to help the community understand what's going on in the snow. Tune in for a passionate and vulnerable conversation. Have a safe weekend everybody.

The Salt Lake Snowcast is supported by Alpha Coffee. If you visit Alpha, make sure you mention the Salt Lake Snowcast and you’ll get a free sticker! Another way to support the show is to become a member via buymeacoffee.com/saltlakesnowcast. You can also share the podcast with your friends and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for the love and we'll be back soon!

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On today's episode, I'm joined by Utah Avalanche Center Forecaster Craig Gordon. As one of the more recognizable people in Utah's backcountry scene, I've been looking forward to chatting with Craig ever since I started the podcast. We'll talk about Craig's backstory and how he came to be an avy forecaster before a discussion on our current snowpack.

You can stop by Ecker Middle School next Tuesday, February 11th at 6:30pm for a more in depth State of the Snowpack conversation with Craig.

Learn more about Craig's story here. 

The Salt Lake Snowcast is supported by Alpha Coffee. I regularly stop by both their shops—at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon and downtown at 111 S Main Street. Alpha offers a great breakfast and lunch, as well as wine and beer, making it my favorite stop both before or after ski tours. If you visit Alpha, make sure you mention the Salt Lake Snowcast and you’ll get a free sticker! Another way to support the show is to become a member via buymeacoffee.com/saltlakesnowcast. You can also share the podcast with your friends and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for the love and we'll be back soon!

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Another week, another Salt Lake Snowcast. With some noteworthy conditions in the backcountry I’ll take a few minutes today to talk about weather and avalanches before an interview with local snow professional Tarah O’Connor. Tarah and I will talk about her two decade career working in the snow and get some opinions and hot takes from her on avalanche education and the state of the ski industry. I appreciate that Tarah doesn’t hold back and so willing to share her time and her opinions.

I also want to welcome Alpha Coffee as the first sponsor of the Snowcast. I love their coffee and regularly stop by both their shops—at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon and downtown at 111 S Main Street. Besides coffee they offer a great breakfast and lunch, as well as wine and beer making it my favorite stop both before or after ski tours. If you visit Alpha, make sure you mention the Salt Lake Snowcast and you’ll get a free sticker! Another way to support the show is to become a member via buymeacoffee.com/saltlakesnowcast. I took a deeper dive this week into my thoughts on the current snowpack and all subscribers can read my blog posts AND get a Salt Lake Snowcast Sticker! You can also share the podcast with your friends and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for the love and we'll be back next week!

Tarah's ISSW Paper

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The Snowcast is back this week for an important conversation about uphill travel. Joining me on the show is local guide and avalanche professional Colby Stetson. We'll chat about everything from the etiquette of skin tracks, backcountry travel dos and don'ts, and some common uptracks for accessing Wasatch Classics. Colby and I certainly aren’t the authority on this topic, in fact nobody is, but what we tried to do in this episode is discuss some standards, expectations, and like with any episode of the Salt Lake Snowcast, encourage some critical thinking. I’m always open to hearing from listeners, so don’t be shy!

If you'd like to support the show, consider becoming a member via buymeacoffee.com/saltlakesnowcast. You can also share the podcast with your friends and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for the love and we'll be back next week!

Articles we mention in the show...
Normalization of Deviance by Drew Hardesty
Perception of Risk in Avalanche Terrain by Krister Kristensen, Manuel Genswein, and Werner Munter

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On today's show, I'll start with a brief summary of our backcountry conditions. Our snowpack setup in the Central Wasatch requires vigilance and patience. We’ve seen large avalanches in the past week that are well-connected, running full track, and crossing popular skin tracks. With four fatalities in the past few weeks across the intermountain West, it’s time to give the terrain a break and respect the power of the mountains. 

Also in this episode, Jack Stauss and I tackle one of the more contentious issues in the Wasatch and backcountry skiing in general: gatekeeping. We'll read a negative review someone shared about the podcast and address our own viewpoints on this topic. Should you hide all your Strava maps? Is it ok to ask for a conditions report? Where is the line between encouraging people to do their own work, but also encouraging access to the backcountry? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

If you'd like to support the show, consider becoming a member via buymeacoffee.com/saltlakesnowcast. You can also share the podcast with your friends and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for the love and we'll be back next week!

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This was a tough week in the Wasatch. I had something planned for the Snowcast, but it just didn’t seem appropriate to publish it given the current events. We’ve had two fatalities in the backcountry this week. And that’s heart wrenching. At a minimum, we need to acknowledge these events and talk about them. It doesn’t feel like enough to me to just take a business as usual approach to the podcast or my personal backcountry skiing. "The show must go on" doesn't really apply here.

So, I've decided to do something different. I'm sharing something I've been working on for the past few years. It's an essay about grief, loss, and the danger of backcountry skiing. It's personal. I've never known when would be a good time to share this, but now seems appropriate. We have dangerous conditions in the backcountry right now. Please be safe. Consider giving the terrain a break, taking a deep breath, and just going for a nice walk in the woods with your friends.

Here are links to the two articles I discuss in the podcast:
Perception of Risk in Avalanche Terrain by Krister Kristensen, Manuel Genswein, and Werner Munter
I am Dangerous by Drew Hardesty

For mental health resources...
Wasatch Backcountry Alliance resource list
American Avalanche Association resource list

I also want to give a special thanks this week to the friends and ski partners who gave this a listen in advance and helped me produce the episode.  

If you'd like to support the show, consider becoming a member via buymeacoffee.com/saltlakesnowcast. You can also share the podcast with your friends and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for the love and we'll be back next week!

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In today's episode, I'll be chatting with Dani Poirier from the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance. We'll get to know Dani a little bit before diving into some hot topics in the Wasatch. Dani will also provide some updates for us about current access issues, the WBA shuttle, and the organization's trail counting program.

For snow, weather, and avalanche updates, all eyes are on an active period of weather between Christmas and New Years. It's still a ways out, but we have a good history of having reliable Winter storms right around Christmas time. Santa loves the Wasatch! Until then, you can choose to either manage persistent slabs on the polar aspects, or dodge rocks and stumps on the solar aspects. Time to do a little snow dance.

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The Wasatch is starting to come back to life and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. After a long period of high pressure, our snow globe has returned, at least for now. In today's episode, I'll recap our snow, weather, and avalanches before jumping into an interview with Emmet Murray. Emmet is the unit Vice President out of the Canyons village for the Park City Ski Patrol Association where he works as a Hill Captain. We'll talk all things ski patrol before learning about ski patrol Unions and why they are important to your safety on the mountain.

Head's up...after we recorded this interview, the PCPSA had a strike authorization vote and those who voted did so unanimously to approve a strike authorization. Tune in to their social media channels to learn more about this action and to get involved:
@pcskipatrolunion
@united_mountain_workers
@solitudeskipatrolunion
@parkcityliftmaintenace

You can also contribute to them via Venmo at: @PCSPA
Or, check out their GoFundMe Here: 

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Welcome back to Season 2 of the Salt Lake Snowcast!

On today’s episode, we’ll start by looking at historical data for the Wasatch to see how nervous we really need to be about our low tide conditions. After that, Zack Little is back on the show to talk about first aid, communication, and preparedness for backcountry skiing. We've spent some time covering what happens when things go wrong, so I wanted to make sure we also did an episode about how to prevent things from going wrong in the first place.

If you'd like to support the show, consider becoming a member via buymeacoffee.com/saltlakesnowcast. You can also share the podcast with your friends and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for the love and we'll be back next week!

Links
CPR training
Stop the Bleed Training Here and Here
UAC Rescue and Wilderness Medicine

A few rescue tarps...
Alpine Threadworks
Function before Fashion
HMG
Jackson Backcountry

First Aid
If you're interested in taking a Wilderness First Aid class, there are many providers in the Salt Lake area. I'd encourage you to search around a little bit and see what works for you. Let me know if you have any questions.

Repair Kits
This Winter, the Salt Lake Snowcast plans to sell some premade backcountry repair kits. I'll update y'all once they are available.