The mission of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center is to provide avalanche safety information for backcountry recreationalists using the Sawtooth National Forest by offering daily avalanche advisories and educational programs. We begin operations in mid-November, or when enough snow accumulates in the mountains for backcountry recreation. Daily advisories run through the season until early April, when they phase into general information and weekend advisories through mid April. We offer a variety of educational programs throughout the winter, including classroom and field-based instruction, as well as classes specifically aimed towards snowmobilers.
The SNFAC has offered daily avalanche advisories and educational programs since 1994. Prior to 1994, the Avalanche Center was not a dedicated program, but did offer avalanche education and general snow information. Thanks to the Friends of the Sawtooth NF Avalanche Center, increased funding from the Forest Service, and grassroots financial support from the community, the SNFAC was able to expand operations to its current level.
SNFAC Staff:
Chris Lundy, Director
Chris graduated in 2000 with an MS in Engineering from Montana State University - Bozeman, with research work in snow and avalanche science. He then spent four winters ski patrolling at Bridger Bowl Ski Area and two seasons avalanche forecasting in Glacier National Park before moving to Idaho in 2004 to work for the SNFAC.
Chris is an avid backcountry skier and ski mountaineer but also enjoys riding a sled, and has been a leader in developing avalanche education specifically aimed at snowmobilers. He is a regular contributer of avalanche safety articles to Backcountry Magazine, and also admits to being a closet computer nerd and web programmer. In the summer he works as a river guide on the Middle Fork of the Salmon.
Blase Reardon, Lead Forecaster
Blase started skiing on golf courses in Ohio. A search for bigger mountains and deeper snowpacks led him to West Virginia to ski patrol, Utah to ski powder, and Montana to dig snowpits 15 feet deep for the USGS Global Change Research Program. He’s also packed his skis to Kyrgyzstan and Norway. He began working at SNFAC in the winter of 2008-9.
Blase’s previous avalanche work includes forecasting for the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park and at the Glacier Country Avalanche Center in Montana. He edited The Avalanche Review from 2000-5 and holds Certified Avalanche Instructor status from the American Avalanche Association. He has an MFA in Creative Writing and is completing an MS at the University of Montana, where he studies glacier mass balance. When he’s not in the snow, Blase likes to read, climb, chase his dog and ride bikes with one gear.
Simon Trautman, Forecaster
Simon grew up running around in hayfields outside of Lander, Wyoming. Following a stint as a medic in the United States Navy, he went to college, tried commercial fishing, and went back to college. After being surreptitiously pummeled by a small wet snow avalanche in the North Cascades, Simon earned a Masters Degree in Earth Science from Montana State University, focusing on wet snow avalanche phenomena. Professionally, he worked four seasons as a ski patrol for Moonlight Basin and two winters as an avalanche forecaster for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
In addition to skiing, Simon likes to climb rocks, read books, and carve things out of wood. He has a weakness for finding (and procuring) old tools…
