Teton Snow Geek

Snowpack Observations & Backcountry Techniques from the Resident Geek,
JACOB URBAN, and the JHOLI Staff

Teton Snow Geek

Snowpack Observations & Backcountry Techniques from the Resident Geek JACOB URBAN, and the JHOLI Staff

Teton Snow Geek

Snowpack Observations & Backcountry Techniques from the Resident Geek, JACOB URBAN, and the JHOLI Staff

The Pathogen Puzzle: A Well Supported Immune System is the Missing Piece to Attaining Health

I have been a professional educator for 30 years. Over the last 25, I have studied the body through the personal practice of Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine. During that time I practiced both urban and wilderness protocolsĀ in several different mediums ranging from education, emergency & ambulatory services to ski patrol to search and rescue. During this time, I was under the guidance of many different doctors, physicians and surgeons providing me mentorship and medical direction under a wide range of experiences and specialties. Under their mentorship, guidance, clinical observations and teachingsĀ I have had the privileged to gaining deeper levels of understandings through further...

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Snowpack Update – December 7, 2019 – East Breccia / Togwotee Pass Area

Today we went back out to the Togwotee Pass area in an effort to trend the characteristics of the facet layer that was created during and extended window of high pressure in November. While we expected to get lower test scores than last week, we had no expectations that our persistent slab avalanche problem was going away. And that is exactly what we found.   The summation from the surface to the ground: There is 12mm Surface Hoar that is well developed and being preserved on north facing sheltered terrain. Since last week there has been about 15-20cm of settlement in the existing snowpack. This has created a situation where the overriding slab above the faceted layer of concern has...

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Snowpack Update – Nov. 30, 2019 – Togwotee – East Breccia

Understanding What's Under Our Skis & How to Manage the Risks Associated With It As hard as it may be to believe, ski season in the backcountry is not really here yet. What I mean, is while the snow is piling up in the backcountry the early season hazards that historically arrive with a shallow snowpack are also here. These hazards require specific behaviors or actions to help us avoid them and their consequences. Thus, we need to have a better understanding of the hazards that present themselves historically with specific seasonal timing. Let's start with defining what constitutes a shallow snow pack. Anything less than 2 meters is generally considered a shallow snowpack. While that...

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