The Avalanche Hour Podcast

The Avalanche Hour

Podcast by Caleb Merrill

  1. Aug 12

    Imagining the Worst Case Scenario with Chris Kaipio and Jordy Shepherd: Delivering Adventure Podcast

    Summer Series #3 We continue our summer series with a cross-air of one of our favorite podcasts, ⁠Delivering Adventure⁠. Why is it so important to imagine the worst-case scenario? What happens when we don’t? In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Chris and Jordy share a few examples from their adventure industry careers to illustrate the importance of considering the worst-case scenario. They also talk about some of the factors that can compromise our ability to foresee what can happen if things don’t go to plan and how we can avoid falling into these traps. Chris Kaipio has been working in the adventure guiding industry as a guide, instructor, trainer, manager and content developer since 1991. Jordy Shepard is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden. Key Takeaways How we can imagine the wort-case scenario: Consider What can Reasonably Happen: This involves asking ourselves what all the possible negative outcomes could be and identifying if we are prepared if they come to pass. Be detail oriented: The difference between a professional and an amateur is being detail oriented. Considering all the details before hand gives us an opportunity to identify and plan for all the likely outcomes that may happen. Think ahead: This can require us to step away from complex situations so that we can fully consider the situation and what lies ahead. Ask if we are Missing Anything: Is there information that we might be missing? This is something that we should always be asking ourselves. This helps to avoid developing tunnel vision. Do your research: This can involve talking to others and looking at case-studies. Training and Simulations: This can give us firsthand experience with what can happen. Communicate the Risks Thoroughly: This creates an opportunity for everyone to understand what hazards they can expect to encounter. Guest Bios Chris Kaipio is the produce and co-host of Delivering Adventure. He has worked in the adventure industry as an instructor, guide, trainer and manager since 2001. Chris is currently developing the Managing Risk on Snow eLearning Certification for the Professional Ski Instructors of Canada. When complete, this will be a robust four level online risk management and decision-making certification for guides and Instructors. Chris has written the book Power to Influence: How to get the best out of ourselves and others. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. This is where he met Jordy Shepherd. Jordy Shepherd is the co-host of Delivering Adventure. Jordy is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden. His work experience includes Canadian Avalanche Association Course Leader for Avalanche Search and Rescue Advanced Skills, Provincial Park Ranger, National Park Warden, Wildlife Conflict Specialist, Wildland and Structural Firefighter, Mountain and Industrial Rescue Specialist, Heli-skiing Operations Manager and Lead Guide, and Licensed Real Estate Agent.  In addition to all of his work in the adventure guiding industry, Jordy runs a successful real estate company in Canmore Alberta where he currently lives with is family. Follow, Subscribe and Listen to more Delivering Adventure Podcasts here.

    Imagining the Worst Case Scenario with Chris Kaipio and Jordy Shepherd: Delivering Adventure Podcast
  2. Jun 18

    Slabs 'n Sluffs: Season in Review

    Join us for our seventh installment of Slabs ‘n Sluff with your hosts Sara Boilen and Dom Baker, joined by Caleb Merrill! The crew discuss spring adventures, summer skiing, and cows raiding Caleb’s food cache at an Andes basecamp!   They also review recent episodes from April and May and preview a few exciting things coming up on the Avalanche Hour Podcast. Tune in to hear from Scott Thumlert and Simon Horton of the ISSW 2026 technical committee to learn more about the process of getting 100s of abstracts ready presenting next fall in Whistler.  Avalanche Hour Podcast hosts Brooke Shiny Edwards, Sean Zimmerman-Wall and Joe Stock leave messages for the crew to shout out learning moments and moments of gratitude from their seasons. Episode Summary: Sara, Caleb and Dom discuss spring adventures, summer skiing and the challenges of keeping a food cache away from a herd of hungry cows. Review of the last month of programming, highlighting interviews that captured the hosts imagination or got us thinking The joys of gravel riding, paddling and hiking for hours in the dirt to find summer snow. The ISSW 2026 technical committee members Scott Thumlert and Simon Horton drop by for a chat Voicemails from Avalanche Hour Podcast hosts Brooke Shiny Edwards, Sean Zimmerman-Wall and Joe Stock. Thanks to the sponsors of the show. Legacy Sponsors: Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund AVSS Drone Amplified Partner Sponsors: Austin Powder Safeback onX Backcountry Music: Ketsa Artwork: Mike Tea  Production: Caleb Merrill, Angie Lake

    Slabs 'n Sluffs: Season in Review
  3. May 26

    Partner Highlight: AVSS

    Episode Summary: - A conversation with AVSS introduces PAMS, a Precision Avalanche Management System, designed to reliably drop explosives from a drone platform. - The episode explores the prior experience AVSS brings to the avalanche industry from remote drone operations in logistics and military contexts.   - The conversation looks at the development process and field testing with Jasper National Park. - A glimpse at the next 12 months of testing through an early-adopter program. In this episode of The Avalanche Hour Podcast, hosts Caleb Merrill and Dom Baker sit down with the team at AVSS for a conversation about the development process of creating a drone based avalanche control system from the ground up.  You will hear how this technology aims to create opportunities for greater worker safety, reliability of avalanche hazard management and the evolving list of use cases. The episode also examines how these tools could fit into existing avalanche mitigation strategies and what their growing presence signals about the future of the field. Josh from AVSS discusses the field testing process with avalanche control programs in Western Canada and the plans for an early adopter program for winter 2026/27 to further refine the workflow and ensure the technology meets the needs of the avalanche industry. A huge thank you to AVSS for being a Legacy Sponsor of the podcast this season. We couldn’t keep the mics on without them!  Resources from the Episode:  Check out AVSS’s homepage here Check out a story on CBC Radio with Josh from AVSS  LinkedIn YouTube

    Partner Highlight: AVSS
  4. May 15

    Grief's Gift of Gratitude: Izzy Davis

    In this episode of The Avalanche Hour Podcast, host Brooke “Shiny” Edwards talks with Izzy Davis, a first-year avalanche forecaster at the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center. Izzy shares her path into the ski industry, from growing up in Western Colorado to working as a ski patroller, and eventually moving into public avalanche forecasting. The conversation also touches on a significant personal event: the sudden loss of her partner, Willy Bartlett, while they were skiing together. Izzy reflects on what it was like to be present during the incident and how that experience has influenced both her personal life and her professional direction. Izzy discusses how she has navigated grief while continuing her work in the mountain environment, and how that process has shaped her outlook over time. She speaks about the importance of recognizing the fragility of life, finding moments of gratitude, and continuing to engage meaningfully with her work. The episode offers a thoughtful look at how personal experiences can influence professional roles, particularly in fields like avalanche forecasting, where decision-making and communication carry real weight.  Summary of their conversation: - Izzy shares an intimate first responder’s account of losing a partner while at work as a ski patroller - We delve deeply into the navigation of grief and the ensuing nervous system injury that can occur when this grief is interlaced with the work of a first responder - Izzy shares how her patrol and mountain leadership provided significant support during her season following Willy’s death - Her overarching theme was the gratitude for the gift of presence that she fully embodies and demonstrates throughout our conversation Thanks to the sponsors of the show. Legacy Sponsors: Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund AVSS Drone Amplified Partner Sponsors: CIL Avalanche Safeback onX Backcountry Episode Sponsor: IPA Collective Music: Ketsa Artwork: Mike Tea  Production: Angie Lake

    Grief's Gift of Gratitude: Izzy Davis
  5. May 11

    Beyond the Forecast: Reminiscing with Roddy McGowan and Larry Stanier

    Tune in for candid stories and a humorous take on the roots of Canadian avalanche work. Bruce Jamieson is joined by Larry Stanier to interview Roddy McGowan. Roddy McGowan is a veteran Canadian mountain guide and avalanche professional who carved out his career the hard way, starting as a ski bum in Whistler in the late 1970s before working his way onto ski patrol at Lake Louise and into the renowned avalanche program at Rogers Pass. Known for his persistence, he failed multiple guiding courses before eventually earning his credentials and going on to guide, and complete major ski traverses across western Canada. Over decades in the mountains, he combined hands-on experience while collecting a lifetime of stories—from early dirtbag winters to serious close calls that shaped his perspective on risk and decision-making. Now retired from guiding and living in Japan, Roddy stays connected to the mountains, still observing snow and reflecting - often with wit - on a career in the mountains. Larry has worked in the avalanche patch since 1982, beginning his career as a ski patroller in the early years at Blackcomb ski area. He started ski guiding in 1986 and is a long standing IFMGA Mountain Guide, working all over the world from Kyrgyzstan to the Japanese Alps. He also then worked for many years in the avalanche consulting business for Chris Stethem and Associates, and for over 20 years taught courses for the Canadian Avalanche Association. Larry has also conducted inspections of helicopter and snow cat skiing operations for Helicat Canada and HeliskiUS. This episode contains lessons on how avalanche safety knowledge developed through experience, mentorship, mistakes, and reflection—not just formal science ​Tune in to hear stories from the Canadian avalanche industry of the 80s and 90s - including Blackcomb and Rogers. ​Roddy McGowan reflects candidly on the “human factors” leading to a significant avalanche burial of a snowcat.​The development of avalanche science and standards under the rigorous leadership of Fred and Walter Schleiss at Rogers Pass.​Stories from ski traverses with minimal equipment by modern standards, and the ensuing adventures. Thanks to the sponsors of the show. Episode Sponsor: ⁠Propagation Labs⁠ Legacy Sponsors: Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund AVSS Drone Amplified Partner Sponsors: CIL Avalanche Safeback onX Backcountry Use the code avalanchehour to receive 30% off a year of onX Backcountry Elite or Premium Music: Ketsa Artwork: Mike Tea Production: Angie Lake Support the Show, Buy some Merch!

    Beyond the Forecast: Reminiscing with Roddy McGowan and Larry Stanier
  6. Apr 15

    Partner Highlight - A Conversation with Drone Amplified

    Episode Summary: - A conversation with Drone Amplified, the team introduces Montis, a drone-based system designed to deliver explosives remotely with greater precision and safety.  - The episode traces the history of avalanche mitigation, from early explosive use in 1939 to modern tools aimed at reducing human exposure. - Technology evolved from wildland firefighting and what makes its electronic ignition system a significant advancement. - A forward-looking perspective on how emerging technologies like drones may reshape the industry in the years ahead In this episode of The Avalanche Hour Podcast, host Caleb Merrill sits down with the team at Drone Amplified for a conversation rooted around a single question: how can the avalanche industry continue to use effective avalanche mitigation strategies while reducing the significant hazard exposure for avalanche workers? They explore the evolution of avalanche control technology and introduce Montis, a drone-based system designed to deliver explosives remotely with increased precision and safety. You will hear how this technology originated in wildland firefighting, the advantages of electronic ignition systems, and what makes drone deployment a potential game changer for reducing worker exposure. The episode also examines how these tools could fit into existing avalanche mitigation strategies and what their growing presence signals about the future of the field. This episode offers both a grounded look at the realities of avalanche work today and a forward-looking perspective on how emerging technologies like drones may reshape the industry in the years ahead. A huge thank you to Drone Amplified for being a Legacy Sponsor of the podcast this season. We couldn’t keep the lights on without them!  Resources from the Episode:  Check out Drone Amplified’s homepage here Check out a video on their technology, Montis Music: Ketsa Artwork: Mike Tea  Production: Caleb Merrill, Angie Lake

    Partner Highlight - A Conversation with Drone Amplified
4.9
out of 5
198 Ratings

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Podcast by Caleb Merrill

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