The Avalanche Hour Podcast

Season 11 is just around the corner, kicking off October 1st.  Join us for a shout out to one of our sponsors - Austin Powder, a major manufacturer of explosive products for the avalanche industry.  Hear a bit about the history of the company, a time when the North American avalanche industry was close to starting a winter season without an explosive supplier, and stay tuned until the end to hear some observations and insights on cornice blasting and case charging.   Learn about the history of the Avalauncher, and how mining rock blasting and avalanche control blasting are more similar than it might seem.  

Host Dom is joined by Braden Schmidt, Austin Powder Avalanche Global President and Michael Blancher, Austin Powder Technical Manager.  Both Braden and Michael have decades of experience in the avalanche industry and bring their expertise to their role supporting avalanche operations with technical blasting challenges.  

Braden Schmidt has worked in Explosives Avalanche Control Operations since 2004. He is a Professional Member of both the Canadian Avalanche Association as well as the American Avalanche Association, and a member of International Society of Explosives Engineers. He sat on the Explosives Advisory Committee of the Canadian Avalanche Association for 3 years before moving into his current role with Austin Powder Avalanche in 2018. He has conducted Avalanche control mission in Canada, USA and Europe and has also consulted on jobs in Iceland, Japan and New Zealand.

Michael Blancher has spent 29 years in the avalanche patch hunting frozen forms with the Ski Patrol at Whistler Blackcomb, then MOT Hwy’s Avalanche Weather Program Supervisor, now proudly serving the community with fresh Austin Powder.  

Episode Summary:

- Learn about how a nearly 200 yr old privately held company is helping keep ski hills, highways and infrastructure open by supplying explosives for avalanche control.

- Hear about the evolution of the Avalauncher, as well as insights on better techniques and technology for case charging and cornice control.  

- Consider how surface rock blasting and avalanche control blasting have more in common than it might first seem.

- Tune in to catch up on the latest from one of the avalanche industry’s best supporters.

Thanks to Austin Powder for supporting the show!

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea 

Production: Dom Baker, Angie Lake

Setting the Track

Juliana Garcia grew up climbing the volcanoes of Ecuador and became an international mountain guide—but skiing was the piece of the puzzle she still wanted to solve.

In this episode, Brooke Maushund sits down with Juliana Garcia. Juliana takes us through her journey from climbing Cotopaxi as a teenager to becoming an IFMGA guide, learning snow and avalanche science as an adult, and bringing that knowledge back to the Andes.

We talk about breaking into the guiding world as the first woman in several of her training programs, the mentors who helped shape her career, the evolution of avalanche education in Ecuador, and her work supporting the next generation of mountain guides.

From Ecuador to Colorado, Alaska, and beyond, Juliana's story is about persistence, curiosity, mentorship, and finding a way to keep learning—no matter how long the journey takes.

In this episode: Ecuador • Andes • Ski Guiding • Avalanche Education • IFMGA • Women in Guiding • Mentorship • Snow Science

Thank you to the sponsors of the show:

Legacy Support:

The Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund

Drone Amplified's Montis

The Guide Network

Partner Support:

Austin Powder

PeakVisor

OnX Backcountry

Episode Sponsor:

A3 Avalanche Resilience Project

Unlike a lot of snow and avalanche professionals, Jerry Roberts spent a fair amount of time hanging out around San Francisco, soaking up the Buddhist-infused literary scene of the '60s. He developed a deep affection for some very old school snow enthusiasts: Basho, Issa, Buson, and other 18th-century Japanese poets. He went on to a lengthy career forecasting for the Colorado Avalance Information Center, the Colorado Department of Transportation, even Quentin Tarantino. Along the way, he's written a number of his own wintry haiku. He joins us to share stories and wisdom from a lifetime in the snowy mountains, as well as a few poems.

Jerry passed away in September of 2023.

Drew's writing for Jerry:

Summer's End

The Assistant Spiritual Director Gets a Promotion

Summer Series #3

We continue our summer series with a cross-air of one of our favorite podcasts, ⁠Delivering Adventure⁠.

Why is it so important to imagine the worst-case scenario? What happens when we don’t?

In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Chris and Jordy share a few examples from their adventure industry careers to illustrate the importance of considering the worst-case scenario. They also talk about some of the factors that can compromise our ability to foresee what can happen if things don’t go to plan and how we can avoid falling into these traps.

Chris Kaipio has been working in the adventure guiding industry as a guide, instructor, trainer, manager and content developer since 1991.

Jordy Shepard is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden.

Key Takeaways

How we can imagine the wort-case scenario:

Consider What can Reasonably Happen: This involves asking ourselves what all the possible negative outcomes could be and identifying if we are prepared if they come to pass.

Be detail oriented: The difference between a professional and an amateur is being detail oriented. Considering all the details before hand gives us an opportunity to identify and plan for all the likely outcomes that may happen.

Think ahead: This can require us to step away from complex situations so that we can fully consider the situation and what lies ahead.

Ask if we are Missing Anything: Is there information that we might be missing? This is something that we should always be asking ourselves. This helps to avoid developing tunnel vision.

Do your research: This can involve talking to others and looking at case-studies.

Training and Simulations: This can give us firsthand experience with what can happen.

Communicate the Risks Thoroughly: This creates an opportunity for everyone to understand what hazards they can expect to encounter.

Guest Bios

Chris Kaipio is the produce and co-host of Delivering Adventure.

He has worked in the adventure industry as an instructor, guide, trainer and manager since 2001.

Chris is currently developing the Managing Risk on Snow eLearning Certification for the Professional Ski Instructors of Canada. When complete, this will be a robust four level online risk management and decision-making certification for guides and Instructors.

Chris has written the book Power to Influence: How to get the best out of ourselves and others. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. This is where he met Jordy Shepherd.

Jordy Shepherd is the co-host of Delivering Adventure.

Jordy is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden.

His work experience includes Canadian Avalanche Association Course Leader for Avalanche Search and Rescue Advanced Skills, Provincial Park Ranger, National Park Warden, Wildlife Conflict Specialist, Wildland and Structural Firefighter, Mountain and Industrial Rescue Specialist, Heli-skiing Operations Manager and Lead Guide, and Licensed Real Estate Agent. 

In addition to all of his work in the adventure guiding industry, Jordy runs a successful real estate company in Canmore Alberta where he currently lives with is family.

Follow, Subscribe and Listen to more Delivering Adventure Podcasts here.

2026 Summer Series #2

On 22 April 2023, a group of three were caught in an avalanche in the Godmother Couloir in Lyngen, in Northern Norway. Two of them were severely injured and had to be airlifted out for life-saving treatment. It was a matter of life and death… One managed to get out on his own and rushed to the hospital.

Niels Sole Semb and Victor Rizzardi speak openly and honestly about their experience from the day of the accident—what went wrong, and what lessons can be learned.

We are grateful to be able to share this story with the listeners of The Avalanche Hour and hope that you will learn something from this excellent episode originally recorded, produced, and released by Skredpodden.

You can find a video of a presentation Niels gave about this incident here.

Thank you to our current season long sponsors:

Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund

Drone Amplified

Austin Powder

PeakVisor

We are currently looking for sponsors and underwriting to continue production. See availability and details here.

What do we actually mean when we call something a deep persistent slab? Does the name help—or does it create confusion?

In this episode, Caleb sits down with Grant Statham, Bruce Jamieson, and Mark Staples for a thoughtful discussion sparked by a letter Grant wrote after listening to a previous episode. The conversation explores whether avalanches failing near the ground deserve their own distinct classification, how terminology shapes terrain decisions, and the challenge of communicating complex snowpack problems to both professionals and the public.

From heli-ski run lists to avalanche forecasting, this is a conversation about language, uncertainty, and the evolving way we think about avalanche problems.

The Nine Avalanche Problems Through the Lens of Crayola Crayons, by Dallas Glass

Season 11 Sponsorship and Advertising Opportunities are available. Click here to find out more.

Thanks to Angie Lake for Production Support

Thanks to Cameron Griffin for Website support

Logo Artwork: Mike Tea

Join us for our seventh installment of Slabs ‘n Sluff with your hosts Sara Boilen and Dom Baker, joined by Caleb Merrill! The crew discuss spring adventures, summer skiing, and cows raiding Caleb’s food cache at an Andes basecamp!   They also review recent episodes from April and May and preview a few exciting things coming up on the Avalanche Hour Podcast. Tune in to hear from Scott Thumlert and Simon Horton of the ISSW 2026 technical committee to learn more about the process of getting 100s of abstracts ready presenting next fall in Whistler.  Avalanche Hour Podcast hosts Brooke Shiny Edwards, Sean Zimmerman-Wall and Joe Stock leave messages for the crew to shout out learning moments and moments of gratitude from their seasons.

Episode Summary:

• Sara, Caleb and Dom discuss spring adventures, summer skiing and the challenges of keeping a food cache away from a herd of hungry cows.

• Review of the last month of programming, highlighting interviews that captured the hosts imagination or got us thinking

• The joys of gravel riding, paddling and hiking for hours in the dirt to find summer snow.

• The ISSW 2026 technical committee members Scott Thumlert and Simon Horton drop by for a chat

• Voicemails from Avalanche Hour Podcast hosts Brooke Shiny Edwards, Sean Zimmerman-Wall and Joe Stock.

Thanks to the sponsors of the show.

Legacy Sponsors:

Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund

AVSS

Drone Amplified

Partner Sponsors:

Austin Powder

Safeback

onX Backcountry

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea 

Production: Caleb Merrill, Angie Lake

Episode Summary:

- A conversation with AVSS introduces PAMS, a Precision Avalanche Management System, designed to reliably drop explosives from a drone platform.

- The episode explores the prior experience AVSS brings to the avalanche industry from remote drone operations in logistics and military contexts.  

- The conversation looks at the development process and field testing with Jasper National Park.

- A glimpse at the next 12 months of testing through an early-adopter program.

In this episode of The Avalanche Hour Podcast, hosts Caleb Merrill and Dom Baker sit down with the team at AVSS for a conversation about the development process of creating a drone based avalanche control system from the ground up. 

You will hear how this technology aims to create opportunities for greater worker safety, reliability of avalanche hazard management and the evolving list of use cases. The episode also examines how these tools could fit into existing avalanche mitigation strategies and what their growing presence signals about the future of the field.

Josh from AVSS discusses the field testing process with avalanche control programs in Western Canada and the plans for an early adopter program for winter 2026/27 to further refine the workflow and ensure the technology meets the needs of the avalanche industry.

A huge thank you to AVSS for being a Legacy Sponsor of the podcast this season. We couldn’t keep the mics on without them! 

Resources from the Episode: 

Check out AVSS’s homepage here

Check out a story on CBC Radio with Josh from AVSS 

LinkedIn

YouTube

In this episode of The Avalanche Hour Podcast, host Brooke “Shiny” Edwards talks with Izzy Davis, a first-year avalanche forecaster at the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center. Izzy shares her path into the ski industry, from growing up in Western Colorado to working as a ski patroller, and eventually moving into public avalanche forecasting. The conversation also touches on a significant personal event: the sudden loss of her partner, Willy Bartlett, while they were skiing together. Izzy reflects on what it was like to be present during the incident and how that experience has influenced both her personal life and her professional direction.

Izzy discusses how she has navigated grief while continuing her work in the mountain environment, and how that process has shaped her outlook over time. She speaks about the importance of recognizing the fragility of life, finding moments of gratitude, and continuing to engage meaningfully with her work. The episode offers a thoughtful look at how personal experiences can influence professional roles, particularly in fields like avalanche forecasting, where decision-making and communication carry real weight.

 Summary of their conversation:

- Izzy shares an intimate first responder’s account of losing a partner while at work as a ski patroller

- We delve deeply into the navigation of grief and the ensuing nervous system injury that can occur when this grief is interlaced with the work of a first responder

- Izzy shares how her patrol and mountain leadership provided significant support during her season following Willy’s death

- Her overarching theme was the gratitude for the gift of presence that she fully embodies and demonstrates throughout our conversation

Thanks to the sponsors of the show.

Legacy Sponsors:

Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund

AVSS

Drone Amplified

Partner Sponsors:

CIL Avalanche

Safeback

onX Backcountry

Episode Sponsor:

IPA Collective

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea 

Production: Angie Lake

Tune in for candid stories and a humorous take on the roots of Canadian avalanche work. Bruce Jamieson is joined by Larry Stanier to interview Roddy McGowan.

Roddy McGowan is a veteran Canadian mountain guide and avalanche professional who carved out his career the hard way, starting as a ski bum in Whistler in the late 1970s before working his way onto ski patrol at Lake Louise and into the renowned avalanche program at Rogers Pass. Known for his persistence, he failed multiple guiding courses before eventually earning his credentials and going on to guide, and complete major ski traverses across western Canada. Over decades in the mountains, he combined hands-on experience while collecting a lifetime of stories—from early dirtbag winters to serious close calls that shaped his perspective on risk and decision-making. Now retired from guiding and living in Japan, Roddy stays connected to the mountains, still observing snow and reflecting - often with wit - on a career in the mountains.

Larry has worked in the avalanche patch since 1982, beginning his career as a ski patroller in the early years at Blackcomb ski area. He started ski guiding in 1986 and is a long standing IFMGA Mountain Guide, working all over the world from Kyrgyzstan to the Japanese Alps. He also then worked for many years in the avalanche consulting business for Chris Stethem and Associates, and for over 20 years taught courses for the Canadian Avalanche Association. Larry has also conducted inspections of helicopter and snow cat skiing operations for Helicat Canada and HeliskiUS.

This episode contains lessons on how avalanche safety knowledge developed through experience, mentorship, mistakes, and reflection—not just formal science

• ​Tune in to hear stories from the Canadian avalanche industry of the 80s and 90s - including Blackcomb and Rogers.
• ​Roddy McGowan reflects candidly on the “human factors” leading to a significant avalanche burial of a snowcat.
• ​The development of avalanche science and standards under the rigorous leadership of Fred and Walter Schleiss at Rogers Pass.
• ​Stories from ski traverses with minimal equipment by modern standards, and the ensuing adventures.

Thanks to the sponsors of the show.

Episode Sponsor:

⁠Propagation Labs⁠

Legacy Sponsors:

Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund

AVSS

Drone Amplified

Partner Sponsors:

CIL Avalanche

Safeback

onX Backcountry Use the code avalanchehour to receive 30% off a year of onX Backcountry Elite or Premium

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea

Production: Angie Lake

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