Meditations
In winter, many of us rise well before dawn (or work the late shift) and take communion with Orion. But I should say that the hunter has not always been a welcome or warm figure in the avalanche world. When I see him, particularly in the eastern sky, there are
Meditations
Many avalanche professionals view the Japanese poet Matsu Basho as their patron saint, in no small part because of his commitment to simplicity and his commitment to the road. He was an original Japanese dirtbag of the late 17th century. But it may also be because of a winter haiku,
Avalanche
Last week's main question was Is There Bias in the Forecast? It brought about a flurry of responses; my favorite being, "Is This a Trick Question?" And this naturally led to more questions: * What can be done to reduce bias and improve consistency among forecasters? * What
Avalanche
~~~~~~~~ One late spring afternoon in the 1990s, the media came banging on Tom Kimbrough’s door. “There was a big avalanche accident, how could you have called it a MODERATE danger?" Without hesitation, Kimbrough replied, "Would you go into a bar if there was a Moderate danger you’
Meditations
701R, this is Helicopter Hotel X-Ray, how do you copy? This is 701R, I’ve got you loud and clear, go ahead. We have a visual on our two climbers on the south side of the Middle. Just below the dike pinnacle. We plan to land in the south fork
Meditations
In the summer of 1995, I nearly drowned without a lifejacket in Desolation Canyon. On a layover, I walked a few miles upstream to retrieve a shirt I had left behind at our previous camp. Looking for the calmest water, I carefully waded out into the brown silty water at
Meditations
Many years ago, I went through a difficult breakup. You may have experienced the same. And I thought, Woe is me. Now I have no one to love…me. It took me a while to realize that I had it backwards. We are all so full of the capacity to
Meditations
When I was first telling Jed Workman about the book Don Sharaf gave me, he laughed and laughed. (Jed has one of the great laughs in this world.) The book was The Captain Class, by Sam Walker. "Of course he loves that book," he laughed; "Don is
Meditations
When I lived in the Middle East, people often told me, After you come to the desert, you'll always have sand in your shoes. But it took me a long time to understand that you can't separate one grain of sand from another. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Flow I'
Meditations
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I used to joke with my good friend Ian Havlick that he was The Future. Since then, Ian has gone on to become an avalanche forecaster and a full IFMGA mountain guide. He has guided and heli-skiied in Europe, Iceland, Norway, Alaska
Meditations
January 5, 2019 is a day I’ll never forget. I issued a Low avalanche danger for the Wasatch backcountry. By late afternoon, I learned that eight people had been caught and carried in shallow wind slabs. In Broads Fork of Big Cottonwood Canyon, two people were simultaneously caught. One
Meditations
It was my first winter as a backcountry avalanche forecaster when the venerable Utah Dept of Transportation avalanche master Greg Dollhausen offered the following advice: Don’t ski in the backcountry in the afternoon. This was almost 25 years ago and I am still trying to unravel the mystery. (pc: