THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT

Learning by watching the real world.

This is an experiment. An effort to provide something new. We will find out where this goes, together.

My intention is to offer a perspective on and a framework for understanding evolving avalanche conditions. Expect to see photos, snow and weather observations, referrals to notable avalanche forecasts and observations, and musings about life and the cryosphere. This will broadly focus on avalanche conditions in the western US, western Canada, and Alaska, though occasional diversions are possible.

THE FRAMEWORK:
The snowpack is a temporary record of the weather, written in the season’s snow and ice. Slow down and read that again.

Snowpack dug in a recently burned forest. The obvious dark layers are from charcoal that was knocked off the burned trees by wind-blown snowflakes. We travel back in time as we dig deeper into the snowpack. The coarser snow at the base of the snowpit is remnant early-season snow that sat out and weakened over a period of drought prior to its burial.

Think of the snowpack as a living, breathing, evolving creature. Every season is significantly different from the previous season. Yes, there are common characters and common themes each year, but the show always plays out differently. This is particularly true as our climate throws weird weather at us with increasing frequency and decreasing predictability.

This framing is fundamental to understanding how snowpacks build and evolve over time, and how avalanche conditions change along with changing weather and snowpack conditions. If your goal is to spend time in avalanche terrain in snow-covered mountains and to come home safely to your friends and family at night, understanding and being able to predict how the snowpack will behave is crucial.

The best way to learn how snowpacks develop and how avalanche conditions follow suit is by watching the process happen. Fortunately, we have a chance to do this every season. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the natural world and the fact that free time is limited for all of us, this learning experience has significant limitations.

Follow along, I’ll try to pull out signals from the noise and construct a story that we can all learn from along the way. Your questions, comments, and thoughts are always welcome.

-Ben VandenBos

CURRENT LOCATION: Wood River Valley, ID // Bozeman, MT