Classroom Instructors

Wendolyn Antibus

has ski patrolled in Lake Tahoe for the past 20 years, including working as an avalanche forecaster and dog handler at Mt Rose Ski Tahoe.  She teaches recreational avalanche courses, and is a Pro Course Instructor and Instructor Trainer for AIARE.  She's also an RN, and spends her summer's mountain biking and building a tiny home.

Karl Birkeland

career includes more than four decades of snow and avalanche work, including ski patrolling in Colorado and Utah, backcountry forecasting in Montana, working as an Adjunct Professor at Montana State University, conducting applied research at the Forest Service National Avalanche Center (NAC), and serving as the Director of the NAC. He founded the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center in 1990 and co-founded the NAC in 2000. While patrolling and backcountry forecasting, he earned degrees in Biology (BA), Earth Sciences (MSci), and Physical Geography (PhD). His avalanche career focused on conducting practical avalanche research, mentoring numerous graduate students and avalanche practitioners to participate in that research, and communicating those findings to avalanche workers. Karl has been recognized by his peers with both the Bernie Kingery (2008) and the Honorary Membership (2024) Awards from the American Avalanche Association. Since retiring from the Forest Service almost three years ago, he has been working on The Starting Zone, an ebook geared specifically for avalanche professionals.

Ethan Davis

passion for snow began at Anthony Lakes, a small ski area tucked in rural Eastern Oregon. He studied Physical Geography at the University of Idaho, earning a Bachelor of Science with a minor in Mathematics. Drawn to the dynamics of winter storms, he went on to complete a Master’s degree in Meteorology at Penn State, where he spent three years in a dark lab growing ice crystals. Eventually, the call of the mountains brought him back into the light as a forecaster in Alaska and Colorado. He joined the Sawtooth Avalanche Center in 2015 and is proud to call the Wood River Valley home. When he’s not in the snow, Ethan can be found trail running, fishing, hunting, and camping with his wife and two young sons.

Ryan Evancyzk

started as an NSP Volunteer at Arapahoe Basin in 2000.  By 2003 he accepted a full time paid position as a ski patroller with ABSP.  His progression at Arapahoe Basin moved him into Snow Safety to become an Avalanche Technician in 2007.  He is a former graduate of the National Avalanche School (2005) and has helped teach several Phase II field sessions throughout the years.  He holds AVPRO (Pro2) and ProAVSAR certifications as well.  He became Snow Safety Director for the Basin in 2013 and now serves as the Patrol Director.  Arapahoe Basin has undergone significant expansion in the last 20 years to where Ryan has been integral in helping expand the Avalanche Mitigation program.  He is most recently responsible for the expansive bomb tram installation in the Steep Gullies and is currently working on RAC planning for Arapahoe Basin.  He is a member of the NSAA Explosives Committee, Summit County EMS Board and Summit County Advisory Budget Committee.

Mike Ferrari

Mike has recently been named the Program Director for the National Avalanche School. Mike at-tended the NAS in 1997. He is in his 30th year working for Mt. Rose Ski-Tahoe. For the past 20 seasons he has been the Patrol and Risk Manager for the resort. During his time at Mt. Rose he went through the planning process with the USFS to open The Chutes in the 2004/05 season that is some of the steepest sustained vertical inbounds avalanche terrain in North America. Mike is the past Treasurer of the American Avalanche Association (A3). He is also a recreational course provider and Instructor with AIARE. Mike lives in Reno, Nevada with his wife Daniela and his three girls. He has a 7 year old Border Collie named Mac and a 2 ½ year old German Sheppard named Kona that work with him on the mountain. He is looking forward to giving back to a program that started his formal avalanche education.

Dallas Glass

serves as the Deputy Director of the Northwest Avalanche Center, where he has worked in several roles since 2013. His avalanche forecasting career began at Mt Rose Ski Tahoe in 2006 and includes stints in ski area operations, guiding, and avalanche education. Originally from Alabama, Dallas didn’t come to the snow until later in life while working on his graduate degree in Hydrology and Soil Physics at the University of Nevada. However, once he stepped into a set of skis, he never looked back. Nowadays, Dallas splits time between Seattle and Packwood, WA. If not breaking trail through feet of PNW powder, you’ll probably find him trail running or wading one of Washington’s amazing rivers.

Ethan Greene

Ethan has approached snow and avalanches from both a practical and theoretical perspective. He worked at Big Sky Ski Resort in Montana as a ski patroller and at the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center in Salt Lake City as an avalanche forecaster. Ethan studied meteorology at the University of Utah (BS) and snow drift formation at Colorado State University (MS). He spent a lot of time looking at the microstructure of snow and its metamorphism in very large freezers in Colorado and Switzerland (PhD). Ethan has authored to a variety of general interest and scientific articles, and chaired the committee that produced Snow, Weather, and Avalanches: Observational Guide-lines for Avalanche Programs in the United States (SWAG). He was part of the working group that produced the International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground (2009) and is head of the Snow and Avalanche Division of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences. Ethan is currently the Director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, a program of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. He lives in Leadville, Colorado with his wife and two children.

Rebecca "Becs" Hodgetts

began ski patrolling in the mid-1990s on Mt Ruapehu, a volcano in the central plateau of New Zealand’s North Island. She went on to work at other resorts in New Zealand, Canada, and the US. She worked 12 years at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, first as an avalanche technician and later as Assistant Ski Patrol Director. She joined the Colorado Avalanche Information Center in 2014 and worked first as a Backcountry, then as a Highway Forecaster, and finally as a Regional Lead Forecaster for southern Colorado. In 2024, she joined the staff at the USDA National Avalanche Center as a National Avalanche Specialist.

Chris Lundy

has over 20 years of diverse professional experience with snow and avalanches. After earning an MS in Civil Engineering from Montana State University, Chris went on to work as a researcher, ski patroller, highway avalanche forecaster, backcountry ski guide, backcountry avalanche forecaster, Director of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, and web developer. Chris joined the US Forest Service National Avalanche Center in 2022 and lives in Stanley, Idaho.

Alex Marienthal

is the lead avalanche forecaster at the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center where he has worked full-time since 2015. Prior to joining the GNFAC he was a ski patroller at Bridger Bowl full-time for three seasons, and he continues to make guest patrol appearances a handful of days each winter. In 2014 Alex earned his M.Sc. in Earth Science from Montana State University with a focus in snow science and avalanche forecasting. His thesis examined meteorological metrics associated with deep slab avalanches at Bridger Bowl. Alex has dug hundreds of snowpits and performed even more stability tests while assessing snowpack at the ski area and in the backcountry, as a professional, and for recreation. His favorite “non-work” activities are skiing, spring-skiing, summer-skiing, music, camping, and mountain biking.

Paige Pagnucco

is the Director of the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center (UAC), where she leads efforts to provide accurate avalanche forecasts, education, and outreach throughout Utah’s mountain regions. She began her career as a professional ski patroller at Park City, where she developed a strong foundation in snow safety and a lasting interest in public forecasting. With extensive experience in snow science, backcountry avalanche forecasting, and risk communication, Paige brings both field-based knowledge and thoughtful leadership to the UAC. She’s committed to collaboration, clear communication, and helping all types of mountain users make safer decisions in avalanche terrain. In the offseason, you'll find Paige with her family on a bike, boat, or rope. 

Erich Peitsch

is a Research Physical Scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey - Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in West Glacier, Montana. Erich earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from Montana State University in Snow Science from the Department of Earth Science. He has worked as a professional ski patroller at Palisades Tahoe (Alpine Meadows), served as Director and forecaster for the Flathead Avalanche Center,  educator, and supervises the Going-to-the-Sun Road Avalanche Program in Glacier National Park, MT.  His current work focuses on wet snow dynamics, avalanche-climate interactions, and avalanche frequency, and making the science useful for avalanche practitioners.

Mike Rheam

has been drawn to the science and challenges associated with understanding avalanches since college, and has worked in the field ever since. For nearly 30 years, he has worked for the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol (Avalanche Program Supervisor) and the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center (Lead Forecaster), and he is a lead guide/forecaster for the Tordrillo Mountain Lodge in Alaska. He has worked as a program manager, forecaster, mitigator, guide, researcher, and educator for decades. When the snow melts, he can be found navigating rivers and admiring fish.

David Richards

has been working in the avalanche business for 25 years.  He has experience working in helicopter skiing, highway mitigation, legal risk management, avalanche education, and as the Director of a large ski resort avalanche program for Alta Ski Area.  Dave is the co-founder of Avalanche Risk Solutions, an avalanche consulting firm.  Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in the creation and implementation of large-scale avalanche programs utilizing next-generation mitigation and mapping technology and has been deeply involved in the design of new explosives for RACS systems.  He would rather be ski touring. 

Scott Savage

Scott is the Director at the Forest Service Sawtooth Avalanche Center in Ketchum, ID. where he has worked since 2012. After completing degrees in Chemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Colorado, Scott spent most of the 1990’s and 2000’s as a ski patroller, avalanche forecaster, and snow safety director at Big Sky Resort in Montana. While recovering from a series of knee surgeries from 2008-11, he focused on studying his and other avalanche professionals’ experiences, mistakes, and decision-making. Scott has presented at several ISSW’s, contributes regularly to The Avalanche Review, and is a frequent speaker at regional avalanche awareness events and professional development seminars. Scott and other avalanche professionals formed Avalanche Worker Safety, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing workplace accidents involving avalanche workers in North America. Scott is an Advisor to the American Avalanche Association and resides in Hailey, ID with his wife and son.

John Stimberis

began his professional career at the Alpental Ski Area in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Working on ski patrol allowed John to combine his love of snow and passion for weather, eventually leading to a position with the Washington State Department of Transportation as a highway avalanche forecaster. After gaining the necessary operational experience, John moved from forecaster to supervising several mountain passes, including Interstate 90, a role he continues to fill. In addition to his work at the WSDOT, John has conducted avalanche research with several universities, attended and presented at ISSWs for more than 25 years, served on industry-related boards, including the American Avalanche Association and AAUNAC, and taught numerous avalanche safety classes, notably with the David Pettigrew Memorial Foundation. John has a Geography and Environmental Science degree from Central Washington University and a Master's in Sustainable Transportation from the University of Washington. He lives in Seattle with his partner, Alysa, and enjoys live music and running.

Simon Trautman

Simon is an avalanche specialist at the Forest Service National Avalanche Center. He studied wet snow avalanching at Montana State University and has worked as an avalanche forecaster for the Moonlight Basin ski patrol, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, and the Northwest Avalanche Center. He was the director of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center from 2012-2014 and the interim Director of the Northwest Avalanche Center during the 2018-2019 season. He lives in Bellingham, Washington.

Bruce Tremper

grew up skiing in the mountains of western Montana where his father taught him the basics of avalanches at the age of 10. After a successful, national ski racing career, he started his professional avalanche career in 1977 doing avalanche control at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Montana, earned a master’s degree in Geology from Montana State University, studying under the well-known avalanche scientists Dr. John Montagne and Dr. Bob Brown. He then took over as the Director of Avalanche Control at Big Sky Ski Area in Montana and worked as a backcountry avalanche forecaster for the Alaska Avalanche Forecast Center, finally, the Director of the Utah Avalanche Center for 29 years from 1986 until his retirement in 2015. He has been featured in numerous national and international television documentaries about avalanches including those produced by National Geographic and Discovery Channel among many others and has regularly appeared on national network news programs. Bruce wrote the books "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain," and "Avalanche Essentials" both published by Mountaineers Books, now translated into five languages.  In 2021, Bruce was inducted into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame for his creative contributions to the avalanche world.