Welcome to Awe, Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out at awenice.com.

This week, I talked with Alex Marienthal from Montana. After high school, Alex left Boulder, Colorado, for Montana State University where he studied snow science as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student. Before becoming an avalanche forecaster, he worked for the ski patrol at the Bridger Bowl outside of Bozeman. Part of the job was mitigating avalanche risk which often involved setting off explosives, to get the snow headed downhill preemptively.

To further set the scene, Bridger Bowl has some spots that are strictly for advanced skiers and it requires those skiers to have avalanche beacons on them if they're going to access those spaces. As a ski patroller, Alex always skied with a beacon, a shovel, and a probe pole.

Every year, Alex told me, at least one person he knows - a backcountry guide, a ski patroller or someone in his professional community - is killed in an avalanche. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, an average of 27 people die in avalanches each winter in the U.S.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here.

We also welcome your support. You can find a donate button on our about page.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe, Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out at here.

In this segment, we return to visit with Alex Marienthal, who works in Montana as an avalanche forecaster.

Here, Alex shares a near-miss moment. It happened during an intense and extended winter storm which brought more than six feet of heavy, wet snow to the region. It all landed on top of the winter's already developed snowpack. He picks up the account around Cooke City, which is near Yellowstone National Park.

With all the predictability in life these days, I can appreciate how unpredictability lends itself to keen interest and professional fascination. Alex told me that avalanche forecasting lands at what can be a tense intersection of recreationalists, businesses, and, yes, Mother Nature. Sometimes the forecast is dire but nothing happens. Sometimes, as he recounted, the natural phenomenon can be devastating.

Last February, despite an avalanche warning ranking of "high", a big group of backcountry skiers near Lake Tahoe, California, headed into the mountains. The weather got worse and ultimately, nine died in an avalanche that was by all accounts considerably smaller than the one Alex described.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here.

We welcome your support. You can find a donate button on our about page.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe, Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out here.

This week, I interviewed Kyler Brown.

Apart from the stink, or, maybe because of the stink, that was a fantastic encounter!

I asked Kyler how he first learned to ride. He said his rabbi, back in Missouri, first taught him. Who would have thought?

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here.

Awe, Nice! also welcomes your support. You can find a donate button on our about page. We thank Kershaw knives and Redmond salt for their sponsorships.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.