Stayin' alive

There’s no doubt the snowpack is especially sketchy this season, not just locally but throughout the intermountain West. In January alone, there have been five skier deaths from slides: one in the San Juans near Silverton; one in Utah; one near Aspen; and another rare in-bounds slide that claimed two skiers on Taos’ Kachina Peak.

Often, heading into the backcountry or extreme terrain can be a crap shoot, but there are ways to improve one’s odds. Next Tues., Jan. 29, author and former Utah avalanche forecaster Bruce Tremper hopes to do just that for local backcountry adventurers. Tremper, whose book, Staying Alive in Backcountry Terrain (first published in 2001) has become a necessity in any backcountry skier’s kit, will be giving a presentation on avalanche safety and awareness at Backcountry Experience, 1209 Camino del Rio, starting at 6:30 p.m.

“His book is now in its third edition and is one of the most popular books on backcountry safety,” BCEXP marketing guru Margaret Hedderman said. “He’s such a big deal within the backcountry community that I think people would get a lot of value out meeting him.”

In addition to serving as director of the Utah Avalanche Center for nearly three decades and being an author – he also wrote Avalanche Essentials – Tremper is a wilderness adventure photographer. Maybe not so coincidentally, he also has some amazing shots of avalanches to share as well.

Backcountry is partnering with Maria’s Bookshop, which will be selling Tremper’s book at the event. The evening is free and open to all. For more info., check it out on Facebook.