The National Avalanche Center
Our mission is to promote avalanche safety on and around National Forests.
Snow avalanches kill more people on National Forests than any other natural hazard. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the United States. Nearly all of these deaths involve recreation on public lands. We work to reduce the impacts of avalanches through the following programs:
Avalanche Centers
Avalanche Centers enable backcountry users to make informed decisions in avalanche terrain.
Avalanche forecasters gather information through fieldwork, public observations, mountain weather stations, and weather models. They combine this data with expertise and experience to produce actionable information about the day’s avalanche danger.
Forest Service Avalanche Centers are public-private partnerships, with around half of operating budgets coming from grassroots, community-supported Friends groups.
Military Artillery
Howitzers are used to mitigate avalanches at seven Ski Areas that operate on public lands.
Forest Service snow rangers introduced artillery for avalanche control to the U.S. in the 1940s. Today, the Army loans artillery to the Forest Service, which assumes responsibility for overseeing the use and security of the weapons and ammunition at each participating ski area.
Artillery targets are often in terrain that is too steep or consequential to put workers into safely. It is accurate, reliable, and can be used during storms or times with limited visibility.
Ski areas pay all of the Forest Service costs associated with the program.
Avalanche Forecast Platform
The National Avalanche Forecast Platform (AFP) is a centralized software system for gathering, analyzing, and disseminating avalanche information.
The AFP is managed by the NAC and allows Avalanche Centers to produce forecasts and warnings, share observations and media, and visualize mountain weather.
The platform provides consistency in the look and feel of public-facing avalanche safety products and strengthens training opportunities and peer-to-peer relationships among avalanche centers.
It also provides a centralized database for public avalanche information. This data is used by many digital mapping services.
Field Support & Tech Transfer
The NAC is a focal point for the transfer of information, tools, and techniques between scientists, developers, avalanche workers, and the public.
The NAC focuses on projects that help drive improvements in avalanche forecasting, mitigation, safety, and education. Recent examples include:
Staff
Simon Trautman – Director
Simon grew up running around in hay fields outside of Lander, Wyoming. Following a stint as a US Navy Corpsman, he earned a BS in Geology at Western Washington University and an MS in Earth Science from Montana State University. He has worked for the Moonlight Basin Ski Patrol, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, and the Northwest Avalanche Center. Simon joined the National Avalanche Center in the summer of 2014 and lives in Bellingham, WA. Contact: simon.trautman@usda.gov
Rebecca Hodgetts – National Avalanche Specialist
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. Contact: rebecca.hodgetts@usda.gov
Chris Lundy – National Avalanche Specialist
Chris 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 NAC in 2022 and lives in Stanley, Idaho. Contact: christopher.lundy@usda.gov
Karl Birkeland – Senior Avalanche Scientist
Karl grew up skiing in Colorado, chasing his folks around the backcountry and the local ski hills before finding ski patrol work in high school. He has worked with snow and avalanches for over 35 years, including jobs as a professional ski patroller, backcountry avalanche forecaster, and avalanche researcher. He has earned MS and PhD degrees doing avalanche research. After founding the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center in 1990, he co-founded and began working for the National Avalanche Center in 1999. His work as an Avalanche Scientist involved cooperating with several universities and international research institutes to transfer new and emerging technologies to the US avalanche community. He served as the Director of the National Avalanche Center from 2011-2022.