Skinny Skis Avalanche Awareness Night

Last night was Skinny Ski’s annual Avalanche Awareness Night and it was a huge success. There were roughly 5-600 people in attendance and we were able to raise close to $10,000 for the Bridger Teton Avalanche Hotline and Teton Country Search and Rescue. The community stepped up and threw down at the raffle table, with the grand prize, a JHMR season pass going to…a Skinny Skis employee? Ummm… (cough)…yeah. Jill Fredstone, author of Snow Struck, was the keynote speaker and did a fantastic job. Her fine balance of humor, facts, and whit gets the message across without loosing the crowd’s interest.

Besides being in charge of the raffle, I was volunteered by my SAR teammates to give a quick talk recollecting my avalanche incident last month in New Zealand. I was little hesitant to talk to a mass of people about my own faults…but I agreed anyway. I put together a few slides to help take the eyes off me and it worked out well I thought. Seamless…was the word I kept hearing.

Our other speakers had a ton of information to relay as well. Jim Woodmency talked about the weather (I think), and Mike Reem informed us on the workings of the avalanche center. I like the new afternoon forecast…is that for the weather too…Woody? Rod Newcomb gave his classic talk, with the overhead projector…and the early season snow pack is not looking good for the rest of the season…but that will change, as always. All the tables were full from WYDOT to Ortovox to Arcteryx, who was a newbie this season.

Huge thanks our sponsors who really stepped up with the donations this year and helped make this thing happen…Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Snow King Resort, Grand Targhee, Black Diamond, Teton Gravity Research, Stormshow Studios, Mammut, Arc’teryx, Backcountry Magazine, Life-Link, Cloudveil, Mountain Hardwear, Backcountry Access, CamelBak, Select Peaks, Highpeak Books, Marmot, Patagonia, Leki, Ortovox, Petzl, Smith, Genuine Guide Gear.

Note:I will post more pictures on this event when I get them from Sava.