Episode Summary:

- A conversation with Drone Amplified, the team introduces Montis, a drone-based system designed to deliver explosives remotely with greater precision and safety.

- The episode traces the history of avalanche mitigation, from early explosive use in 1939 to modern tools aimed at reducing human exposure.

- Technology evolved from wildland firefighting and what makes its electronic ignition system a significant advancement.

- A forward-looking perspective on how emerging technologies like drones may reshape the industry in the years ahead

In this episode of The Avalanche Hour Podcast, host Caleb Merrill sits down with the team at Drone Amplified for a conversation rooted around a single question: how can the avalanche industry continue to use effective avalanche mitigation strategies while reducing the significant hazard exposure for avalanche workers? They explore the evolution of avalanche control technology and introduce Montis, a drone-based system designed to deliver explosives remotely with increased precision and safety.

You will hear how this technology originated in wildland firefighting, the advantages of electronic ignition systems, and what makes drone deployment a potential game changer for reducing worker exposure. 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.

This episode offers both a grounded look at the realities of avalanche work today and a forward-looking perspective on how emerging technologies like drones may reshape the industry in the years ahead.

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

Resources from the Episode:

Check out Drone Amplified’s homepage here

Check out a video on their technology, Montis

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea

Production: Caleb Merrill, Angie Lake

In this episode of The Avalanche Hour, Caleb Merrill makes another appearance to sit down with Mark Staples, director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, and avalanche researcher/educator Bruce Jamieson. The group discuss heavyweight topics in the avalanche industry such as snow-surface energy exchange, near-surface faceting, and communicating avalanche hazard.

Staples recounts his path from powder skiing to avalanche work, his research on snow-surface energy balance, and his experience connecting with varied user groups. Jamieson describes collaborating with Staples on educational videos and credits Karl Birkeland’s 1998 papers for focusing attention on near-surface faceting. Staples also contrasts surface hoar (vapor deposition) with near-surface facets (metamorphism of existing snow grains), and they cover conditions that promote growth, including cooling to a clear sky and relative humidity. The conversation also explores simplifying avalanche problem types, terrain-based risk management, the public’s interest in science, and learning from accidents.

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:

Arva

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea

Production: Caleb Merrill, Bob Keating

Join us for our sixth installment of Slabs ‘n Sluff with your hosts Sara Boilen and Dom Baker! Sara and Dom discuss the joy of powder turns in low hazard terrain, slope tests on small features and the upcoming spring skiing season. They also review recent episodes from March and take a look at what is coming up for April on the Avalanche Hour Podcast. Tune in to hear from the ISSW 2026 organizing committee about everything to look forward to from Whistler next fall.

Sara Boilen holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver (2011). Professionally, she works with individuals who have had interactions with the justice system often in the spirit of helping to make sense of behavior and context. She has taken her professional interests and merged it with her recreational interests to contribute to the field of avalanche sciences in her free time. She is specifically interested in human-related problems and solutions. Dr. Boilen has presented at seven Snow and Avalanche Workshops and at ISSW in Norway. She has written articles for The Avalanche Review and was a co-author on the recently proposed conceptual framework for human factors in avalanche terrain. She lives in Northwest Montana and will carry dessert for you to the top of any mountain her skills will take her to.

Dom Baker is an avalanche technician with the BC Ministry of Transportation at Kootenay Pass, occasional avalanche course instructor and adventure buddy to his kids.

Episode Summary:

- Sara and Dom discuss winter weather patterns, adapting to rapidly changing ski conditions, and look ahead to spring

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

- Safely poking around on small features to build a better picture of the avalanche hazard

- The ISSW 2026 organizing committee drop by for a chat

- A voicemail from a listener.

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

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea

Production: Dom Baker, Bob Keating

Summary of the Conversation:

-Exploring the societal pressures as human factor on professional athletes

-Sasha shares how she balances decision making in the backcountry with a very mindful approach inclusive of her nervous system

-Sasha cracks the code on the best Human Factor Hack; creating mindful presence in a meditative, naturalist inquisitive approach to the mountains.

-Sasha talks about the preventative nature of choosing backcountry partners by engaging in conversations that share each others unique stress signatures and what each partner needs in high risk scenarios.

Sasha is a professional skier and meditation teacher, and the founder and director of Mountain Mind Project. She has spent her lifetime training her mind and body. Sasha has competed at the highest level of skiing and mountain biking, winning the Freeskiing World Tour and competing on the Freeride World Tour and Enduro World Series. In high school, she was invited to travel with the National Development System and race internationally in the recruitment pipeline for the U.S. Ski Team. She’s always loved the mental game.

Her meditation practice grew out of her time as a competitive athlete. Sasha saw – in herself and those she loved – how accidents, trauma and life’s load can compound over a career. During years of illness and chronic pain, Sasha became a qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher by the UCSD School of Medicine MBPTI.

Sasha’s style of meditation is to engage fully within the inherent risk of life, refined from her time spent in the inherent risk environment of mountains. Her mission is to normalize that the health in mental health can be cultivated – through deep relationship to self, others and the natural world from meditation practice.

Sasha is the daughter and granddaughter of Vietnam war refugees and keeps one foot planted in the Mountain West of the U.S. and the other in the Mekong of Vietnam.

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:

OpenSnow

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea

Production: Caleb Merrill, Bob Keating

Join us in giving a warm welcome to Lynne Wolfe for her first official episode as a host with the Avalanche Hour Podcast as she shares a thoughtful and reflective conversation with Eric Trenbeath and Brad Meiklejohn.

A lot has changed about the avalanche industry in 34 years, but one thing we will never lose is the presence of uncertainty when we make decisions in avalanche terrain. On February 12th, 1992, ⁠an avalanche occurred in the Talking Mountain Cirque of Upper Gold Basin ⁠in the La Sal Mountains of SE Utah. This accident involved six expert-level backcountry skiers and tragically claimed the lives of four: Mark Yates (contacted UAC Forecaster), Maribel Loveridge, Jeremy Hopkins, and Bill Turk.

The group reflects on the terrain, snowpack, and heuristic factors that contributed to this incident, expanding these ideas to similar trends they see continuing in our community today and offering these lessons as learning opportunities for us all to bring into the mountains. The biggest takeaway: maintain a sense of wonder and be ready to be surprised by how snow behaves.

About our host and guests:

Lynne Wolfe is a retired Teton guide, editor of The Avalanche Review, and she teaches a few courses a season for AAI in the Pro program. She lives in Driggs, Idaho, with husband Dan Powers and the Lucky Dog. She can be influenced by offering dark chocolate, thick coffee, or hazy IPA.

Brad Meiklejohn worked at the Utah Avalanche Center from 1983 - 1992. He has been Alaska State Director of The Conservation Fund since 1994.

Eric Trenbeath was born and raised on the Wasatch Front. He lived and worked in Alta, Utah for 10 years starting out as a live-in cook at the Goldminer's Daughter before landing a job on the Alta Ski Patrol. Equal parts desert and mountain lover, he has worked as a UAC forecaster in the La Sal Mountains near Moab for 16 seasons (1999-2003, 2013-present).

Resources mentioned in the conversation:

⁠The Avalanche Review - 41.3 - Off the Bench (pg. 30)⁠

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

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea

Production: Caleb Merrill, Bob Keating

Join us for our fifth installment of Slabs ‘n Sluff with Sara Boilen and the return of co-host, Dom Baker! Sara and Dom discuss hazard forecasting and the North American Public Avalanche Danger Scale. They also review February and take a look at what is coming up for March on the Avalanche Hour Podcast.

Sara Boilen holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver (2011). Professionally, she works with individuals who have had interactions with the justice system often in the spirit of helping to make sense of behavior and context. She has taken her professional interests and merged it with her recreational interests to contribute to the field of avalanche sciences in her free time. She is specifically interested in human-related problems and solutions. Dr. Boilen has presented at seven Snow and Avalanche Workshops and at ISSW in Norway. She has written articles for The Avalanche Review and was a co-author on the recently proposed conceptual framework for human factors in avalanche terrain. She lives in Northwest Montana and will carry dessert for you to the top of any mountain her skills will take her to.

Dom Baker is an avalanche technician with the BC Ministry of Transportation at Kootenay Pass, occasional avalanche course instructor and adventure buddy to his kids.

Episode Summary:

- Discussing the differences between moderate, considerable and high avalanche danger ratings

- Review of the last 6-8 weeks of programming, highlighting interviews that captured the hosts imagination or got us thinking

- Recent rabbit holes worth exploring

- What’s on deck for the second half of the season

Resources Mentioned in the Conversation:

The Avalanche Hour Podcast 5.25: European avalanche rescues

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

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea

Production: Dom Baker, Bob Keating

Caleb Merrill is back to interview Dan Abrams for a reflective conversation on a tragic avalanche accident. Tune in for a conversation that stems from the soul…. soul skiing that is, and the endless search for those perfect powder turns that brings our small community of soul skiers & riders together.

Dan and Caleb center the conversation’s focus on recounting the Tunnel Creek avalanche accident that Dan was involved with back in 2012. This accident was followed by significant media coverage and quickly drew attention across the country. The New York Times eventually produced a Pulitzer Prize-winning multimedia feature called Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek about the accident, produced by reporter John Branch.

Dan reflects on the lessons he learned from this event and how it has shaped his life today. He highlights that we should put greater focus on our motivations or expectations for a backcountry touring day and how we should change our plans to better align with those goals. We should also make sure we fully read and understand the public avalanche hazard bulletin before leaving the trailhead for a tour and make sure we do not let human biases veil our ability to identify red flags.

Dan is a co-founder of Flylow, a ski apparel and gear brand founded in 2004 by two college friends who were self-proclaimed ‘ski bums’ that wanted to create backcountry ski pants that could hold up to the demands of the sport and terrain.

Key Moments from the Conversation

- Dan recounts and reflects on his involvement with the Tunnel Creek Avalanche Accident near Stevens Pass, WA back in 2012

- The most important part before going into the backcountry should be fully reading the avalanche hazard bulletin and checking the excitement levels so red flags are not overlooked.

- Pay attention to group size - large groups introduce heightened uncertainty.

Resources Mentioned in the Conversation:

Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek, New York Times

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

Music: Ketsa

Artwork: Mike Tea

Production: Caleb Merrill, Bob Keating