When forecasting for any avalanche, probably the most important relationship is strength vs. stress. In other words the strength of the weak layer compared to the amount of weight added on top of that weak layer. Witha depth hoar snowpack, thin snow is weak snow. So when a storm approaches, I like to make a mental map of snow depth. If the storm adds the same amount of weight on all slopes, then the thin areas should slide first. But storms seldom load all slopes uniformly, so you have to do a little simple math. Like I say it's the relationship that's …

The US Forest Service and the National Avalanche School want to give a huge thanks to the host resorts of Snowbird and Alta Ski Lifts and to UDOT for sponsoring a 4-day National Avalanche School field session. These sessions provide focused training for avalanche mitigation program professionals, and the complexities of Little Cottonwood provided a great classroom.

Chris Cawley, Alta Ski Patrolman and frequent backcountry observer, recently shared a great link from NPR about "free will" with decision making...that, according to author Sam Harris, "our brains decide a course of action before we know about it". I hope Chris follows up with a guest blog post... But in thinking about it, it may be that this is how we survived as a species - quick instincts and reactions - to avoid being stamped out by the mastodon or becoming a sabre tooth's snack... It may be a way to attribute why we dive into avalanche terrain - knowingly - (ah, …

Check out the Accident Report and amazing story ....... HERE

Here is a great story from KUTV(Channel 2) on the miraculous survival story of a father and his two sons who triggered an avalanche on Logan Peak. Utah Avalanche Center forecasters investigated the incident and you can find their report HERE. In addition, there was a close call in Farmington Canyonby a snowmobiler. Bruce Tremper

The new Disney movie, Frozen, used a very sophisticated computer modelof snow behavior. Director of the Forest Service National Avalanche Center, Karl Birkeland visited the Disney studio early in the project to talk to the team about snow and avalanche behavior. He was accompanied by snow researchers, Jeff Dozier and Ken Libbrecht. He said they had a very talented and creative team working on this. Here is a very cool video of how they did it with lots of examples. If you're not a modeling or algorithm geek, be patient with the first minute of this video. Now, if we …

Most solid, non-electrical, objects will not cause interference. These objects include snow, trees, rocks, clothing, skis, etc. Another common object is a RECCO reflector which is often built into jackets, and this object will not cause interference. For more info: Watch this video. See how interference starts as the beacon gets closer than an arm's length away from the phone. Read the below articles for more information. “Interference Myth NOT Busted” by John Barkhausen, former GNFAC intern, provides a concise overview of interference and a simply study John …