Utah Avalanche Center Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Why Forecasting is Poker and Not Chess - A Conversation with Jenna Malone Dec 14, 2019

Show notes

During the day, Jenna Malone is a physicians assistant, but she moonlights as a ski patroller at Alta, a Powderbird guide, and an instructor with AAI. At this fall's Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop, she gave a compelling presentation on why avalanche decision making is more like poker than chess. The difference is in the levels of certainty and the information available to the players. Inspired by champion poker player Annie Duke's book Thinking in Bets, Jenna discusses how we make decisions in avalanche terrain, knowing that in this game, the stakes are our very lives.

Drew's Blogcast - "The Devil and Daniel Webster" Dec 04, 2019

Show notes

What I want to know is this: Do we make a deal with Death when we play games with risk?

Early Season Essentials - A Conversation with Bo Torrey Nov 14, 2019

Show notes

It's key to head into the early avalanche season with the proper mindset. In this podcast, we talk with UAC program director Bo Torrey. Bo talks about particular risks unique to the early season, tips and tricks for knocking the rust off your early season rescue skills, and charts out the path forward to avalanche education.

Drew's Blogcast - "Low Danger" Apr 05, 2019

Show notes

On Saturday, January 5, the danger rating in the Salt Lake area went Low. As you'd expect, people got out after it. By the end of the day there were eight skier-triggered avalanches, with four people caught and carried in separate events, and one visit to the ER. In this episode, we put one of those accidents under the microscope and examine how the forecast affects decision making. Our guests: UAC forecaster Greg Gargne, backcountry skiers Vlad Pascu and Jackie Long, Professor Russ Costa, and researcher Laura Maguire.

Bringing People and Ideas Together - A Conversation with Lynne Wolfe Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, we sit down with Lynne Wolfe. Lynne is a longtime mountain guide for both Exum and Jackson Hole Mountain Guides. She has taught innumerable avalanche courses for AAI, NOLS, and Yostmark and since 2005 she's been the editor of The Avalanche Review. Discussed in this episode: articles that have helped save lives; Ed LaChapelle's "ascending spiral"; debriefing with purpose; find good ski partners; being a good ski partner; talk about things that matter; Listen!

Drew's Blogcast: "Stacking the Deck" Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

There's no telling when calamity or injury may strike, so what can you do to make sure you're prepared to act when they do?

Wise Ones - Talking about Mentors with Eeva Latosuo & Aleph Johnston-Bloom Mar 13, 2019

Show notes

All the way from Alaska, Eeva Latosuo and Aleph Johnston-Bloom join Drew to talk about their research on the mentoring network that undergirds so much of the avalanche and snow science community. Discussed in this episode: what a mentorship is; how to find a mentor; who's mentoring who; why mentoring; how information passes through the mentoring tree; the two-way street; aging out of mentorship; learning decision making skills, workplace safety and culture; staying curious; knowing when you've "made it."

Drew's Blogcast: "Shame and the Social Contract" Mar 13, 2019

Show notes

The importance of being open about avalanche involvements and near misses, and how we can cultivate a culture of learning, absolute transparency and non-judgment, regardless of individual risk tolerances. Put yourself in other people's shoes. Practice humility. Destroy shame!

The Smartest Guy in the Room - A Conversation with Ian McCammon Feb 27, 2019

Show notes

In this podcast, we sit down with none other than Ian McCammon. Ian holds a PhD in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on robotics and sensory development and his avalanche research has focused on safety education, fracture mechanics, and the human factor. Discussed in this episode: The Carruthers Incident ('95); ALPTRUTh; Lemons; FACETS; buried weak layers of assumptions; future lines of avalanche inquiry; Airbag vs avy education; The test of all knowledge is experiment; have your best day!

Drew's Blogcast: I AM Dangerous Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

We can all agree that traveling in the backcountry is dangerous. Out in the mountains, we take risks and we push the odds. So, if the mountains are dangerous and risky, what does that make you?