Instructors
Update 01.24.07
INSTRUCTORS IN A CLASS BY THEMSELVES.
All NAS instructors are recognized experts in their respective fields. All our instructors are professional members of the American Avalanche Association and follow the AAA recommended guidelines for curriculum.
WITH CREDENTIALS TO BOOT.
Instructors scheduled to speak at the 20th Annual National Avalanche School 2007
-Doug Abromeit-
Doug directs the Forest Service National Avalanche Center (NAC) including managing the military artillery for the avalanche control program and coordinating program direction for Forest Service backcountry avalanche forecast centers. He serves on the National Avalanche Foundation Board, Center for the Study of Snow Science at Alta, the National Avalanche School Steering Committee, and the Avalanche Artillery Users Committee. He produced the avalanche awareness videos, Riding Safely In Avalanche Country and Think Like An Avalanche. Prior to directing the NAC, he worked as the Little Cottonwood Canyon snow ranger, a ski patroller and a smokejumper.
-Dale Atkins-
Presently an avalanche forecaster with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, Dale has been a professional ski patroller for 15 years with Loveland Ski Area. He brings 25 years of mountain rescue experience with the Alpine Rescue Team and has participated in over three dozen avalanche rescues. Active in the search and rescue community, Dale is the United States' Avalanche Representative to the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (IKAR) and chairs the Search and Rescue Committee of the American Association of Avalanche Professionals. He has contributed numerous magazine articles and professional papers, and co-authored The Snowy Torrents and NSP Avalanche Rescue books. Dale has also written and produced two avalanche rescue videotapes for search and rescue personnel and recreational backcountry users. He has helped to develop and implement an avalanche safety program for the Colorado Department of Transportation. Dale has been involved in several major avalanche studies including avalanche hazard mapping and statistical analyses of avalanche accidents in the United States.
-Paul Baugher-
Paul Baugher is the ski patrol director at Crystal Mountain Resort in Washington state. He is also the director of the Northwest Avalanche Institute (NAI), a group that currently teaches and consults for ski areas, guide services, and mountaineering groups. Paul and his partner Eric Simonson are co- owners of Mt. Rainier Alpine Guides, a mountaineering guide service that has operated on Mt. Rainier since 1996. During the 80's, Paul worked as a snow safety director and ski patrolman in winter and as a mountaineering guide (RMI) and climbing ranger (NPS) at Mt. Rainier in the summer. He continues to work a few shifts each season as a part time heli guide for North Cascade Heli-Skiing. Paul is a former vice president of the American Avalanche Association. His teaching background includes the National Avalanche School, American Avalanche Institute, Alaska Avalanche School, and numerous regional avalanche courses. Paul received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Puget Sound in 1978.
-Karl Birkeland-
Karl has worked with snow and avalanches for the past 24 years. After 7 years of professional ski patrol experience in Colorado and Utah, Karl earned his MS in Earth Sciences from Montana State University in 1990 doing research on snow strength variability. He then founded the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center in Bozeman, Montana, where he worked as a backcountry avalanche forecaster, researcher and educator for nine years. In addition to his avalanche forecasting work, Karl finished his PhD in Geography at Arizona State University in 1997 researching snow avalanches. In 1999, Karl began work as an Avalanche Scientist for the Forest Service National Avalanche Center, where he cooperates with several universities and international research institutes to transfer new and emerging technologies to the Forest Service avalanche centers. He has successfully competed for a number of grants from the National Science Foundation, has published several scientific articles, and has taught the Snow Accumulation and Dynamics Class and a graduate seminar on Snow and Avalanche Processes at Montana State University, where he is also an Adjunct Professor in the Earth Sciences department.
-Dean Cardinale-
Dean is currently the Assistant Director of Snowsafety at Snowbird, and the President of the Wasatch Backcountry Rescue group. He has been with the Snowbird Ski patrol since 1993, starting in Snowsafety in1998. Dean started ski racing in Lake Placid New York and raced for the NCAA ski team at Keene State College, New Hampshire. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical design, BS 1992. Dean started the Back Country Skills seminars and Free Transceiver Clinics to help educate the public in Little Cottonwood Canyon. He is also a certified instructor with the American Avalanche Association. Dean enjoys mountaineering and has had successful climbs in Alaska, Europe, and the Himalayas.
-Doug Chabot-
Doug, director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, received his B.A. in Outdoor Education from Prescott College in 1986. From 1990 to 1999 he worked as a professional ski patroller at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Bozeman, Montana. Starting part-time in 1995, and moving to full-time in 1998, Doug has worked for the GNFAC as an avalanche specialist. He has taught several avalanche workshops, including courses for the American Avalanche Institute and National Avalanche School. He's worked as a professional mountain guide in Alaska and the western US from 1989 to the present, and is a senior guide at Exum Mountain Guides in the Tetons. Doug has been on 16 Alaskan climbing expeditions as well as climbs in Nepal, India, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
-Jill Fredston-
Jill co-directs the Alaska Mountain Safety Center and for decades has been immersed in avalanche education, forecasting, rescue, hazard mitigation, and explosive control. Fredston directed the Alaska Avalanche School for more than twenty years and was the project leader for the Alaska Avalanche Forecast Center from 1982-1986. She has worked as a snow and ice specialist for the University of Alaska and has conducted field work throughout northern Canada and Alaska as well as on the Greenland Ice Sheet. She is the author of Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches and of Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge, which won the 2002 National Outdoor Book Award. With her husband Doug Fesler, she wrote the primer, Snow Sense: A Guide to Evaluating Snow Avalanche Hazard. In two small boats, Jill and Doug have spent years rowing more than 25,000 miles in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Norway. Educational Background: B.A., Physical Geography, Dartmouth College; M.Phil., Glaciology/Polar Studies, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, England.
-Larry Heywood-
Larry is a snow and ski safety consultant whose list of clients includes ski areas, land developers, insurance companies, law firms, engineering firms, and a variety of government agencies. Among his many current activities he is the Technical Director of the California Ski Industry Association, the U.S. technical representative for a Swiss avalanche control company, and the Loss Control specialist for some of the largest U.S. ski areas. He started his ski patrol and avalanche busting career in 1970 as a professional ski patroller at Alpine Meadows. Over the next 34 years, he worked his way up through the ranks from patroller, assistant director, patrol director and Director of Mountain. In 1996, he was the recipient of the prestigious Kingery Award from the American Association of Avalanche Professionals for his record of service to the avalanche community and contributions to avalanche field operational techniques. In 1986 he started his continuing study of wet snow and wet snow avalanches to develop better forecasting and control techniques. For the past decade, he has been the Chairman of the National Ski Area Associations Explosive Committee. The work of the committee has included developing the NSAA Guidelines for Avalanche Blasting and the NSAA Avalanche Blasting Training Manual. When not tracking down the "white beast," he can usually be found fly fishing somewhere in the western states.
-Ron Johnson-
Ron is an avalanche specialist at the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. He earned a M.S. degree in Earth Science from Montana State University, where he conducted research in glaciology. Ron has studied and worked with snow and avalanches for 25 years. He has presented several papers at the International Snow Science Workshop, and has instructed at numerous avalanche workshops. He's taught at the National Avalanche School since 1997. He worked on the ski patrol at Bridger Bowl and was a guide for the American Alpine Institute. He's climbed in Alaska, South America, Nepal, Russia, and Pakistan. Since 1990, he has worked as a Climbing Ranger at Denali National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Ron is a professional member of the American Avalanche Association.
-Janet Kellam-
Janet is currently director of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center, located in Ketchum, Idaho. She has been
a forecaster there since 1996. With a degree in environmental biology, and an extensive background in alpine and nordic
skiing, Janet became an Idaho licensed-backcountry ski guide in 1981. Since then, she has worked as a heli-ski and
backcountry guide, a winter specialist for documentary films and also helped to resurrect and direct the operation
of Galena Lodge and it's cross country trail system near Ketchum. She has instructed avalanche classes with the
American Avalanche Institute, NOLS, Sierra Ski Touring, The Alaska Mountain Safety Center and the National
Avalanche School. Janet assists with National Avalanche Center projects and is on the governing board of the
American Avalanche Association.
-Evelyn Lees-
Evelyn has spent fourteen years as a backcountry avalanche forecaster for the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Forecast Center involving fieldwork, forecasting and education. Prior to that, she worked four winters as a meteorology field technician for cloud seeding research projects in Utah. Evelyn is a senior guide with Exum Mountain Guides in the Tetons during the summer. She has participated in mountaineering expeditions to Tibet, Pakistan, Alaska and South America. Her educational background includes degrees in Geology and Soils.
-Ian McCammon-
Ian holds degrees in physics, materials science and mechanical engineering and has worked in the fields of robotics, microsystems, and biomechanics. He is the founder of SnowPit Technologies, a firm dedicated to understanding the interactions between people and avalanche hazards. Between consulting and teaching engagements, he works as a field instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming. He is presently collaborating with various researchers to develop reliable decision tools for avalanche education.
-Art Mears-
Art is a professional engineer and geologist with degrees in civil engineering (B.S. 1969) and geology (M.S. 1972) from the University of Colorado. Since 1972 he has worked exclusively as a consulting engineer and geologist in the fields of snow and rock avalanche mechanics, debris-flow and mountain-torrent dynamics, rockfall, and associated structural-defense and land-use problems. His primary consulting emphasis during the past 33 years has been avalanche-control engineering. This engineering specialty includes delineation of avalanche-hazard areas for zoning and mountain construction and design avalanche-control facilities and has been done for more than 600 clients worldwide. He has worked as a consultant on avalanche forecasting and hazard-evaluation for several state transportation departments in the United States. His consulting work has taken him to various snow climates in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and New Zealand. Art has been a principal instructor in the National Avalanche School since 1977, the American Avalanche Institute, the Alaska Avalanche School and the Silverton Avalanche School.
-Ruth Nielsen-
Ruth has worked as an attorney based in Seattle specializing in defending ski areas and other outdoor recreation businesses for the past 20 years. She is the past President of the Association of Ski Area Defense Attorneys, and is a frequent speaker on liability issues at national and local ski area association meetings. She has worked closely with ski area avalanche experts Paul Baugher and Larry Heywood, as well as other ski patrol and avalanche personnel. Ruth is an avid backcountry skier and has skied some of the best secret powder stashes in the Northwest. She has also spent her share of time mountaineering in the Northwest, Alaska, and South America. She has never been caught in a slide and hopes to keep it that way.
-Craig Sterbenz-
Craig, aka "Sterbie", has more thirty-five years of professional experience working, and playing, in avalanche terrain. He is currently the Snow Safety Director for Telluride, where he has been on the Ski Patrol since the mid-1970's. However, his experience is not limited there as he has worked in the field from the Sierra's to the Selkirk's and from Anchorage to Alta. In 1996 he toured numerous avalanche control facilities in Europe as a guest of France Niege International and subsequently worked with an Austrian company to develop and install new avalanche control devices in the U.S. He worked as a consultant for the snow safety plan development at the new Silverton Ski Area and for the USFS on Telluride's expansion. He has authored a number of papers for the International Snow Science Workshop and the Avalanche Review. Craig is also a co-founder and former Director of the Telluride Avalanche School and has worked as an instructor for the Silverton Avalanche School, the Northwest Avalanche Institute, the American Avalanche Institute -Snowise and he joined the National Avalanche School staff in 2001. Craig is an American Avalanche Association Certified Instructor and the Chair of "Standards Awareness" for the AAA as well as the Chair for ISSW, 2006 in Telluride. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, San Diego in 1970.
-Bruce Tremper-
Bruce Tremper grew up skiing in the mountains of western Montana where his father taught him the basics of
avalanches at the age of ten. After a successful ski racing career (Jr. National Ski Team, U.S. Talent Squad,
NCAA Division Champion), he worked doing avalanche control at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Bozeman, Montana and
earned a Master's Degree in geology from Montana State University. He then took over as the Director of
avalanche control at Big Sky Ski Area in Montana, worked as a backcountry avalanche forecaster for the
Alaska Avalanche Center and has been the Director of the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center since 1986.
He has published several scientific papers on various avalanche topics and has been an invited speaker and
consultant in Japan, Norway and Canada. He has been featured on nearly a dozen national and international
television documentaries about avalanches including National Geographic, PBS, Discovery Channel, and many of
the national network news programs. He also produced the avalanche education video "Winning the Avalanche Game"
and recently published the book "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain," by Mountaineers Books.
-Knox Williams-
Knox got his Master's Degree in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University in 1970, and then worked with the U.S. Forest Service Mountain Snow and Avalanche Research Project in Fort Collins, Colorado, for 13 years. He was the manager of the USFS Westwide Avalanche Network during that time, and became a forecaster in the USFS Colorado Avalanche Warning Program. In 1983, he helped found the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (which is a division of the Colorado Geological Survey) and has been its Director ever since. Knox has written two volumes of The Snowy Torrents, co-authored The Avalanche Book, and written a bunch of other papers and articles. He has instructed in every National Avalanche School since 1971 and is a past director. He is also a past president of the American Avalanche Association.