How cat and heli operators manage avalanche risk
Operators manage avalanche risk with a process repeated every morning. The guides read the weather and the snowpack, choose terrain that matches what the snow is doing, and set a run list that opens and closes with conditions. Every guest carries an avalanche transceiver, probe, shovel and avalanche airbag pack. The process manages the risk, and nobody can remove it.
0 to 40 cm
The new storm snow, last 24 hours
Light and cold, bonding to itself.
- The new storm snow, last 24 hoursLight and cold, bonding to itself.0 to 40 cm
- Tuesday night's snow, wind-pressed on the ridgesFirmer where the wind loaded it, first laps go where it did not.40 to 55 cm
- A thin crust from the late-January warm spellTracked by hand in the pit, steers which slopes open first.55 to 57 cm
- The settled base, built since DecemberDeep and strong across the basin.57 to 260 cm
The 5:45 meeting
Dev Tarrant, our snow safety lead, runs the guides' meeting at 5:45 every morning: snow report, the board, the run list, radio check. The team reviews the overnight weather, the regional avalanche forecast and our own record of the snowpack all season.
Wind matters as much as new snow, because wind moves snow around, loading some slopes and stripping others.
The study pit
Data on a screen only goes so far, so the guides dig. The study pit beside the lodge shows the layers stacked through the pack. Here is what one morning's pit showed, a concept record.
One pit is one spot, so the guides read many through the season and across the terrain.
Terrain choice is the main lever
Nobody can change the weather or the snowpack. The guides choose terrain that matches them. When the hazard is higher, the day moves to lower-angle, sheltered slopes and the trees. When the snowpack is settled and strong, more of the basin opens.
Run lists that open and close
Each group skis from a run list set at the meeting. A run open today may close tomorrow after a wind event. One morning, the lists read:
- Cat Three: Juniper Trees (blue square), Lantern Glades (blue square) and Creekbed (blue square).
- Cat Two: Bellwether (blue square), The Long Spoon (black diamond), Lantern Glades (blue square) and Second Breakfast (black diamond).
- Cat One: First Call (black diamond), Whiteroom Direct (black diamond), Bellwether (blue square) and The Long Spoon (black diamond).
Radios and spacing through the day
The tail guide in each group carries a radio, and the guides stay in contact all day. Where spacing matters, guests ski one at a time, so only one person is on a slope at once.
The last pickup is at 16:00 at the creek road. None of this is dramatic in practice. It is a set of quiet habits, repeated every day.
Your part: transceiver practice
Day one starts with transceiver practice: how it works, how to search with it, and how fast. You don't need to have done it before or to own the gear. You do need to take the practice seriously, because the group is a team.
Learn more before you come
These public avalanche education sites are worth reading. We are not affiliated with either, and neither replaces travelling with trained guides.