Colorado Snow and Avalanche Workshop

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) hosts the annual Colorado Snow and Avalanche Workshop (CSAW). CSAW 2012 is a 1-day professional development event for snow and avalanche professionals. The meeting is held in October at the National Mining Hall of Fame in Leadville, Colorado. In addition to the CAIC, the meeting is co-sponsored by the Friends of the CAIC and The Summit Foundation.

CSAW provides a venue for avalanche workers to listen to presentations on new ideas, techniques and technologies for snow and avalanche safety. The meeting is intended for ski patrollers, avalanche forecasters, road maintenance personnel, ski guides, avalanche instructors, undergraduate and graduate students, and applied researchers, but the meeting is open to any interested in the subject.

History

The first CSAW was held at the Keystone Center. The Copper Mountain Ski Patrol donated facilities between 2002 and 2007. CSAW out grew the facilites at Copper in 2008 and moved to the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in Leadville.

Below are the past speakers and topics.

2012: Celebrating 40 Years of Avalanche Safety in Colorado

Avalanche Hazard Evaluation: Towards a Risk-Based System - Grant Statham
CDOT Avalanche Program: a Historical Review - Ray Mumford
40 Years (& More) of Colorado Snow Measurements - Nolan Doeskin
New Generation Avalauncher Rounds..."The Thrifty Booster" - David Sly
Breckenridge Public Avalanche Classes - Will Barrett
The Winter Weather Prognosis - Joe Ramey
The Effects of Explosives on Select Snow Properties - Robyn Wooldridge
Genesis: America's First Avalanche Warning Program - Art Judson
The CAIC - a Look Back - Nick Logan
Colorado's Cloud Seeding Program - Joe Busto
The AvalX Public Avalanche Forecasting System: Is Less Really More? - Grant Statham

2011

Importance of Various Stability Tests and Their Relationship to Spatial Variability - Jordy Hendrikx
A Fracture Mechanical View on Snow Stability - Jürg Schweizer
A History of Avalanches in Colorado: 1860 to 2010 - Dale Atkins
Telluride’s Remote Controlled Roller Compaction Program - Pat Ahern
The Winter Weather Prognosis – Joe Ramey
A Practioners View of Fracture Propagation - Don Sharaf
New Weather Tools at CAIC - John Snook
How it all began - a brief history of snow avalanche research in Switzerland - Jürg Schweizer
High Voltage-Determining Size Classification for a Large Avalanche based on Field and Historical Data - Scott Toepfer and Sara Simonson
American Avalanche Association Awards

2010

Avalanche Airbags from Idea to Product – Brian Ciciora, Backcountry Access
Random Shot Placement in Space,Over Time – Peter Carvelli, Aspen Highlands
Tenmile Peak Avalanche of May 1, 2010 Case study – Dan Burnett and Aaron Parmet, Summit County Search and Rescue
Rescue Response to the Boulder Mountain Snowmobile Avalanche – Brad White, Parks Canada
The Role of Communication in Avalanche Control Work–Doug Krause, Silverton Mountain
A New Program to Address the Side Country User – Ben Pritchett, Colorado Avalanche Information Center
The Winter Prognosis – Joe Ramey, National Weather Service
The Effects of Dust-on-Snow Events on Avalanche Formation – Chris Landry, Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies
Spatial patterns of natural avalanching associated with upper air wind direction in the mountains surrounding Gothic, Colorado - Tara Chesley-Preston, Montana State University Department of Earth Sciences
Extreme NSF events create persistent weak layers that can last all season – Mark Beardsley, Breckenridge Ski Patrol
New North American Avalanche Danger Scale and Conceptual Model for Avalanche Forecasting – Ethan Greene, Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Backcountry Access Season Kick Off Party

2009

Slope angles, weak layers and avalanche types – Ian McCammon, Snowpit Technologies
Recent developments in stability and propagation tests – Karl Birkeland, USFS National Avalanche Center
Surviving avalanches: A guide’s perspective on avalanche dynamics from the inside – Theo Meiners, Alaska Rendezvous Guides
The Gazex avalanche hazard reduction system – Eric Lieberman, High Angle Construction
Explosives, avalanches, and post-control releases – Dan Miller, Montana State University, Department of Civil Engineering
Unexpected events within avalanche hazard reduction programs – Doug Abromeit, USFS National Avalanche Center
Workplace Avalanche Incidents - Ron Simenhois and Scotty Savage, Copper Mountain Ski Patrol and Big Sky Ski Patrol
Communicating with out of bounds recreationists – Ian McCammon, Snowpit Technologies
Winter Weather Outlook – Joe Ramey, National Weather Service, Grand Junction Weather Forecast Office
Backcountry Access Social Event and American Avalanche Association Annual Meeting

2008

The SNOTEL Network in the Natural Resources Conservation Services. Mike Gillespie, NRCS
Avalanche Research and History in the San Juan. Richard & Betsy Armstrong
The Explosives Market. David Sly, CIL/Orion
Snow Metamorphism, an Intro. Richard Armstrong, CIRES
Backcountry Decision Making Processes. Tom Murphy, AIARE
Ten Things Your Avalanche Forecaster Won’t Tell You. Knox Williams
Recent observations of snow microstructure and metamorphism. Ethan Greene, CAIC
Long Range Weather Forecast for 2008-2009. Joe Ramey, NWS

2007

Energy Balance at the Snow Surface. Kelly Elder, USFS
Avalanche Path Ecology. Sara Simonson, CSU
Extended Column Test. Ron Simenhois, Copper Mountain
Chaos Theory and Avalanches. Greg Johnson, CAC
Multiple Burial Scenarios. Steve Christie, BCA
Wet Slabs: A Perspective from Abasin. Leif Eric Borgeson, A-Basin
Boot Packing and The Alternatives. Peter Carvelli, Aspen Highlands
The New Ortovox S-1. Marcus Peterson, Ortovox
Winter Weather Forecast for Colorado. Joe Ramey, NWS

2006

Montezuma Bowl Expansion, a study in the design of a control program. Leif Borgeson, A-Basin
Assessing the Unconscious Avalanche. Brad Sawtell, CAIC
Swimming and Dying in Avalanches. Dale Atkins, RECCO
DKL Heartbeat Detector. Steve Dabbs
A History of the Avalauncher. John Brennan, Snowmass
Multiple Burial Searching with Beacons. Steve Christie, BCA
What will a warming climate do to wet slide activity in the Roaring
Fork Valley. Brian Lazar, Stratus Consulting
Three Antenna Beacons. Tom Adams
Long Range Weather Forecast for 2006-2007. Klaus Wolter, NOAA

2005

Capping Versus Bridging. Dan Moroz, Copper Mountain
Backcountry Forecasting in Switzerland. Scott Toepfer
Avalanche Program at Silverton Mountain. Pat Ahern, Silverton Mountain
31 Year Data Set from RMBL in Gothic, and How we can use it to Improve
Avalanche Forecasting. Hal Hartman
An alternative Cap & Fuse Device. Paul Kunze
Reasoning on Probability, Improving the Reliability of the
Judgement/Forecasting Process. Hal Hartman
Long Range Weather Forecast for 2005-2006. Klaus Wolter NOAA

2004

Spatial Variability: What Patrollers, Guides and Forecasters Need to Know. Karl Birkeland, USFS National Avalanche Center
Common Mistakes Made by Ski Patrollers. Dale Atkins, CAIC
Lift It and It Will Snow. Knox Williams, CAIC
Computer Graphing of Ski Area Control Results. Dan Moroz, Copper Mountain
Starting Your Own Avalanche Center. Alan Bernholtz, Crested Butte Avalanche Center
Peak 7 Bowl - Lessons Learned. Nick Logan, CAIC
AAA/NAC Observational Guidelines for Avalanche Programs. Ethan Greene, AAA
2004-05 Winter Weather Outlook: Knox Williams, CAIC

2003

Snow Rangering for the BLM (aka, What was I thinking?) Denny Hogan, BLM
The French Connection. Scott Toepfer, CAIC
How We Make a Forecast. Nick Logan, CAIC
Decision Traps and Avalanche Accidents. Ian McCammon, NOLS
An Intrepid Weather Forecast for 2003-04. Mike Baker, NWS
Emerging Definitions of Stability. Ian McCammon, NOLS
Workshop: CAIC’s Online Data Entry and Database (Version 2003). Dale Atkins, CAIC and Brian Gardel, Sidetrips
Workshop: How Accurate is Your Inclinometer?
A Visit from the Great Carnak

2002

Effects of an Early-Season Rain Crust. Dan Moroz, Copper Mountain Ski Patrol
Bridging in the Snowpack. Art Mears, Engineering Consultant
Computer/Instrument-Assisted Forecasting for a TG-based Ski Area. John Brennan, Snowmass Ski Patrol
Bringing Avalanche Awareness to the Ski Area Experience. Aaron Brill, Manager/Owner, Silverton Mountain Ski Area
Why Risk Management? Chuck Tolton, Vail Resorts
The CAIC in 2002. Nick Logan, CAIC
Workshop: CAIC’s Online Data Entry and Database. Dale Atkins, CAIC, and Brian Gardel
Video: "Check the Risk. Caution Avalanche"