READ Adam H's chilling account of last Sunday's accident in SAMs-

Brian Lazar shared some excellent points in this AM's Avalanche Discussion for the North San Juan Mountains. From the Discussion: We dropped the avalanche danger to Moderate (Level 2) today, but this by no means implies the backcountry is safe. Natural avalanche activity is pretty much over, but on specific slopes it will be easy to trigger an avalanche. The most worrisome slopes face the north side of the compass, are steeper than around 35 degrees, and have a soft slab on t

Please join me at these upcoming events- Click on individual posting for link to more information. ​​FRIENDS of the SAN JUANS​​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​​ Upcoming AIARE Rec Level 1 and 2 Programs, Hut Based Courses and Backcountry Trainings Jan 26-28 Hut Based Rec Level One w/ SJMG Feb 2-4 Durango Based Rec Level One w/ SJMG Feb 9-11 Venture Snowboards Splitboard Rec Level One w/ SAS Feb 16th Durango Based Avalanche Rescue (1 day) Course w/ SJMG (TBD) Feb 17-18 Avalanche Technician Rec Lev

It was one of those days where if you didn’t love powder so much, there’d be really no reason to leave your couch. The weather was raw and up on red Mountain Pass, the weekend’s storm stubbornly persisted into Sunday afternoon. I was working with my FLC students who are taking an upper division Avalanche Technician Course- a cool mix of Level 2, Avy Rescue, Leadership, Forecasting and AE Field instruction. It’s the type of class you probably wanted to take in college but it d

I stood on the saddle and looked down at the obviously fresh debris. My gut sunk. My guest was still a minute out on the skin track and I used the time to assess the options in front of me. First, there was a set of tracks entering the sneak. Were they evidence of a skier triggered release? Was that skier still down there? I quickly threw my beacon to search trying to find a signal. I heard nothing until I picked up my client on the final pitch- Second, what did this mean for

​​2017-2018 Winter Storm Reports Non-Storm Report #3: December Recap, January 2, 2018​ ​ Greetings from Silverton, December 2017 is now behind us and we are still waiting for winter to begin in most of the Colorado high country. Colorado (AZ, NM, and UT) experienced their warmest November on record and one of the driest for many SNOTEL stations around Colorado. December continued the trend of being exceptionally warm – particular in the mountains – and exceptionally dry.

Heartbreak Ridge- the massive ridge of high pressure positioned over the Western US was forecast to weaken last week. With this, winter was expected to nudge it's way into the mountains. I knew the alpine was poised to get dumped on and I was expecting a few inches in-town in DGO....I packed a light bag for some early morning skin laps on Chapman Hill. But when I awoke at 4am and peaked outside, it was clear that Sunday would be another day of mountain biking. Nothing happene

Unclear, but we're hopeful....Looks like Heartbreak Rdige is finally breaking down and we'll see some moisture penetrate the range this weekend.... From the NWS- "Dry and mild weather will persist across eastern Utah and western Colorado today before precipitation chances increase this weekend as the next storm arrives from the Pacific Northwest. Valley rain and mountain snow look to begin Saturday afternoon with a changeover to snow Saturday night as the cold front passes th