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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.

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It's been a long hot Summer and as temps are finally beginning to drop, I was feeling inspired to share a few thoughts about last Winter. I'll start with some appreciations and shoutouts and then reflect on our previous season. It was an amazing Winter to be a Wasatch skier and it's hard to imagine things getting better! I also have a few announcements from Utah Avy, Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, and Save Our Canyons. I can't wait for a new season of the Salt Lake Snowcast. Don't be shy and let me know what you think of the show and if you have any ideas for next season! I have so much gratitude to all the listens, streams, and shares. I'll be back once we can slide on snow again. 

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Hey Everyone! Our first season at the Salt Lake Snowcast is starting to wrap up. Before we finish, I wanted to do an episode on our most requested topic: avalanche education and backcountry mentorship. To talk with me about this on the show is local guide and avalanche forecaster Kiira Antenucci. Kiira and I chat about how to make the jump from intermediate to expert, ways to find mentorship and ski partners, and we share our own opinions about the state of avalanche education. Tune in for a passionate discussion.

It's been an awesome Winter in the Wasatch. With around 550" so far this year and 75" since the start of Spring, we are so lucky to call these mountains home. My next episode will be a season recap. Thanks for giving the Salt Lake Snowcast a listen. Please subscribe, follow, download, and review the podcast. Every little bit of support helps me grow this small, niche, local podcast.

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I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little seasonally confused these days. We had vicious East winds followed by high pressure and now, Old Man Winter has returned. We could see another few feet of snow before the end of the month so get out there and ski it while you can! 

On today's episode, I had the chance to chat with my friend Chris Dickson from the San Juan Snowcast. Along with taking a behind the scenes look at both podcasts, we'll talk about our motivation behind these shows. I'll also tell a story from a near miss I had this past week and walk you through my decision making in the mountains. I've talked about it before, but Chris was a big inspiration for the Salt Lake Snowcast, so scroll through his page, check out his long list of topics he's covered, and give it a listen!

As always, thanks for the support. DMs are always open. I've got a few more episodes in me this season and then the pod will hibernate for the warm weather months. 

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The Salt Lake Snowcast is back this week with an interview from local skier Mark White AKA @spindrift65 on Instagram. Mark has been ski touring in the Wasatch for the past 40 years and has a perspective and approach to backcountry skiing that we haven’t really talked about this season. While he’s well known for his aesthetically pleasing powder turns and skin tracks, Mark is also prolific in making observations and paying attention to the mountains. 

When I started the SLSC this year, Mark was on my shortlist of folks to talk to and I’m stoked he was able to come on the show. One of my goals with the pod is to try and share knowledge by offering the community a new way to gain insight into backcountry skiing in the Wasatch. Mark’s interview this week is a great example of this and I think we can all learn something from his approach to the mountains.

Lastly, a final reminder to subscribe to the podcast and never hesitate to send us a DM!

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After taking last week off, we are back this weekend to talk with Jack Stauss about our current conditions as we head into another active period of weather. March is usually my favorite ski month with longer days and a more stable snowpack. We’ve made it over the hump of what we call Deep Winter, but we can still pretty much see any type of weather imaginable moving forward through the season. Buckle up, because March is coming in like a lion with lots of wind and moisture.

Thanks for checking out the Salt Lake Snowcast. We’ll be doing weekly episode for at least the next month. If you’re interested in sponsoring the show, or if you have ideas for a sponsorship, reach out to the DMs on Instagram or [email protected]. To me, what's more important than a sponsorship is hearing from listeners about what you think about the show, giving us a five star rating, and sharing our episodes and Instagram posts.  We'll be back next week!

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Thanks for checking out the Salt Lake Snowcast! This is our longest episode yet, but it's an important story to hear and I think any backcountry skier or rider will benefit from the accident analysis and discussion had in this week's episode. 

After a few sunny and calm days in the mountains, we are turning the corner and heading into another active period of weather. I’m already excited to add up the snow totals on next week’s episode! In the beginning of today’s show, I’ll recap a what was a busy weekend for skier triggered avalanches before analyzing one of these events.

In the second part of the episode, I’ll turn the podcast over to Zack Little and Billy Haas to tell the story of a rescue in Lisa Falls from this past Saturday where they helped facilitate a helicopter evacuation of a solo skier they saw get avalanched 1500 feet down the couloir. Using this accident as a case study, we dissect travel etiquette in the Wasatch, the dangers of ignoring red flags, the importance terrain management, communication, and next steps for our backcountry community. I’d like this to be an ongoing conversation, so don’t be shy and send us an email or reach out to us on Instagram.

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What a week of powder skiing! A bit of wind early in the week, but things really turned on with right side up snow and light density powder coming in the last few days with light winds. This weekend should be all time conditions with bottomless turns under clear and cold sunny skies. Utah is still above average for the year with both snow and water. We’re doing much better than other parts of the country, so enjoy the snow and be grateful for what we have!

In Part 2 of today’s show, I sit down and talk with Alex Veilleux from Save Our Great Salt Lake. Alex is part of a movement hoping to prevent the aridification of our beautiful and beloved Great Salt Lake. We’ll chat about how the drying up of the lake will impact skiers and riders through dust and the loss of lake effect snow. The episode wraps up with some advice and ideas for ways to get involved.

Thanks for the support this past week! As always, I love hearing what people think about the show. If you ever have something you want to talk about and are interested in being a guest on the podcast, let me know! You can find us on IG at @saltlakesnowcast or reach out via email [email protected]

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Thanks for tuning in to Episode 9 of the Salt Lake Snowcast. I wanted to get this one out as soon as possible as I  think it is an incredibly important episode going into this weekend. After the usual backcountry update, I have an honest and vulnerable conversation with local pro skier Sam Cohen and our friend, ski guide, and avalanche forecaster Cody Hughes. Sam was caught, carried, and partially buried in an avalanche this past week and wanted to come on the show to tell the full story. With the help of Cody and Sam, the three of us debrief the current phenomenon right now in the Wasatch where, despite scary moderate danger with a persistent weak layer avalanche problem, the backcountry looks like a ski resort with tracks on every avalanche path as far as the eye can see. 

I keep going back to this quote from the show where Cody says “People are hedging their bets right now and what that means is they’re gambling.” You can stack the odds in your favor all day long and talk yourself into skiing avalanche terrain, but with a persistent weak layer, you’re still rolling the dice. And you know what…the thing about gambling is that the house always wins. At the end of the day, it’s a numbers game.

Thanks for being here and giving us a listen. Feel free to send a DM or an email with any questions about today’s show. [email protected]

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Welcome to Episode 8! Things are trending positively right now for our persistent weak layer, but we aren’t out of the woods yet. It’s going to be one of those tempting weekends where you’ll likely see some bold tracks in big avalanche paths. Heading into this weekend, remember our discussion from last week about getting lucky vs. making good decisions. With our current snowpack, tracks aren’t necessarily indicating stability. 

In Part 2, local backcountry skier, former Navy SEAL, and man of many talents, Trevor Thompson, joins the Snowcast to chat about risk, group dynamics and fitness. Trevor’s approach to backcountry touring is intentional and grounded in years of experience.

Finally, we wrap up today’s episode with our extended forecast for the Wasatch. We are back into high pressure and on a slow warming trend until the middle of next week before another storm is on deck for Friday. 

Thanks for the continuous love! Subscribe to the pod, download episodes, and share our IG posts!