Access & Resources
B RID GER - T ETON N AT ION AL FOREST
AVALANCHE CENTER B
By Lisa Van Sciver
efore the Jackson Hole Mountain resort opened its slopes to skiers more than 50 years ago, avalanches on its terrain posed little threat, other than to rocks, trees, and whatever flora and fauna lay in their paths. The advent of skiers on the resort’s steep, snowladen terrain changed all that. The Forest Service took note, designating the ski area “Class A” avalanche terrain. Juris Krisjansons, a Forest Service Snow Ranger, established the ski area’s first avalanche program, developing routes to mitigate avalanche threat and installing remote weather stations that helped inform and shape skiers’ interactions with the slopes. Krisjansons left his position in 1971, and Gary Poulson, a Forest Service snow ranger, assumed responsibility as lead avalanche forecaster. Daily, Poulson would step off the aerial tram and ski down 4,000 feet, diligently recording snow, weather, and avalanche conditions. Initially his observations were made available only to the ski resort, but as humantriggered avalanches occurred in the backcountry his data and observations came to serve a greater audience. In January 1974, a guided group in Grand Teton National Park was struck by an avalanche that killed three students. Two years later, three other skiers were taken by avalanches, one outside of Grand Targhee Resort and two below Jackson Peak. In light of these tragedies, Poulson started a daily avalanche-hazard forecast. And in December of 1976, his role went public with the birth of the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center (BTAC) in December of 1976. The BTAC was one of the first three avalanche centers in the country. Today the center provides daily a.m. and p.m. avalanche-hazard forecasts at jhavalanche.org or by phone (307) 739-2607. Its web site displays weekly snowpack summaries, NWS weather forecasts, data from remote weather stations, historical weather and avalanche data, Google-Maps technology locating avalanche activity and more. The center expanded in 2001 through a partnership with Wyoming State Trails. Because of increased snowmobiler traffic in the backcountry, the daily forecast began to include Togwotee Pass and the Wyoming and Salt River ranges. The center’s existence benefits from support by local sponsors, community donations, and essential partnerships with the National Weather Service and ski areas at Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee, and Snow King. Because snowpack conditions are constantly changing, the center values and incorporates frequent input by local backcountry skiers and mountaineers. This winter, consider sharing your insight into the snow’s w w w. j h s k i e r. n e t
characteristics, how it changes, and how it rides. Contact the avalanche center, via internet or phone, to share your observations and add to the ever-growing database. Lisa Van Sciver is a Jackson Hole Ski Patroller who assists with operations for the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center.
Green River Canyon Wade McKoy photo
2 0 1 7 J AC KS O N H O L E S K I E R
27