Item: Herding Cats: Increasing Public Avalanche Awareness at Copper Mountain Resort
-
-
Title: Herding Cats: Increasing Public Avalanche Awareness at Copper Mountain Resort
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop 2016 Proceedings, Breckenridge, CO, USA
Authors:
- Reed B. Ryan [ Copper Mountain Resort, Copper Mountain, CO, USA ]
- Max J. Tyler [ Copper Mountain Resort, Copper Mountain, CO, USA ]
Date: 2016-10-02
Abstract: During the 2015-2016 season, Copper Mountain Resort (CMR), in Summit County, Colorado, introduced a program encouraging guests to wear avalanche beacons in avalanche terrain. CMR gave beacon-wearers priority access to the resort's free snowcat skiing. Guests were surveyed to determine the percentage wearing an avalanche beacon—before and after the implementation of a "beacononly" snowcat. Increasing in-bounds avalanche fatalities in the United States highlights a need for avalanche awareness for in-bounds skiers and riders. Rather than presenting avalanche hazard inside the resort as nonexistent, there is opportunity—and potential responsibility—for initiatives that promote the use of avalanche safety equipment and provide information on in-bounds avalanche hazard. This paper will present the results of a survey performed in 2015 and 2016 that begins to quantify one such initiative.
Object ID: ISSW16_P2.42.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s):
Keywords: avalanche beacon, inbounds avalanche, avalanche education, avalanche awareness
Page Number(s): 886-888
Subjects: avalanche education avalanche awareness avalanche beacons
-