Snowbird Adventure Speakers Series: Bruce Tremper

The amazing terrain of the Wasatch Front inspires backcountry explorers throughout the year. But things can get treacherous during the winter—unless you know what you’re looking for when it comes to avalanche danger.

Few people in the world have more knowledge on that subject than Bruce Tremper. Director of the Utah Avalanche Center since 1986 and the author of Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, Tremper has been studying snow and forecasting the risk of avalanche for more than 35 years. In a talk this week at Snowbird’s Iron Blosam Lodge, Tremper will recount the course of his career, from the childhood lessons taught by his own dad to professional work from Alaska to the Rockies, plus candid reflections on the unique people he has known in the field of avalanche forecasting. Throw in tidbits of knowledge about the history of avalanche forecasting as a science—including the pioneering Monte Atwater—and you’ve got a lively crash course in a fascinating subject. (Scott Renshaw)