Snow Rangers

AMC Outdoors, March 2007

A Day in the Life of Mount Washington’s Avalanche Experts   

The workday starts early for the U.S. Forest Service Snow Rangers. Chris Joosen, Brian Johnston, Justin Priesendorfer, and Jeff Lane have their coffee makers and computers on before 5 a.m. Over breakfast they study weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Mount Washington Observatory, evaluating how overnight winds, precipitation, and temperatures may have affected snow conditions on Mount Washington’s rugged alpine slopes. By 6:20 a.m. they congregate at the Forest Service garage in Pinkham Notch. As they load up for the day, discussion focuses on how the weather may have shifted snow in Tuckerman and Huntington ravines. In blue twilight and sub-zero temperatures they head up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail on snowmobile. By the time morning alpenglow hits the ravines’ gullies, they’ve already inspected the area for wind slab, wind-scoured ice crust, smooth powder, and sastrugi (windblown ridges of snow). An hour later one will compile the day’s avalanche advisory on a laptop in the Forest Service cabin at Hermit Lake and upload it to the Web. Down below, copies of the advisory are posted in local outfitters’ shops, at Pinkham Notch, and at the foot of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. The advisory is also hung at the Harvard Cabin in Huntington Ravine and at Hermit Lake.

Clockwise from left: Brian Johnston eyes the gullies of Huntington Ravine; Early wake-up call at the U.S. Forest Service garage; Left Gully

Snow rangers are mountain professionals. Armed with expertise acquired through years in the backcountry, they’re emergency medical technicians, expert skiers or snowboarders, and accomplished rock and ice climbers. Joosen, Lane, and Johnston all began their mountain apprenticeships as AMC caretakers at Hermit Lake, where they learned the science of avalanche forecasting and the harsh winter weather in the Whites. They explored every gully and slope of the two ravines— knowledge they now use to assess avalanche danger and to keep the mountain’s backcountry users safe.

Clockwise from upper left: Writing the avalanche bulletin at Hermit Lake; Brian Johnston en route to the Harvard Mountaineering Cabin to post the advisory; U.S. Forest Service Snow Ranger Chris Joosen glasses the gullies of Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine. Small variances in the snow's shade and color tell him where dangerous slabs may be forming.

It’s a difficult job. The ravines see a wide variety of visitors with an even wider range of skill levels. But even the most experienced skier or hiker may be unaware of the dangers posed by the steep terrain. Large avalanches can bury and suffocate them; a small slide can knock skiers or climbers off their feet and send them hurtling into rocks and trees or over precipitous drops. During Lane’s first few weeks at AMC in 2002, he helped recover four climbers from a slide; two died. “Part of the challenge is trying to educate the public about a hazard that is not obvious,” Joosen says. “We’ll analyze and assess the conditions and get that information out, but ultimately it’s up to the individuals to keep themselves safe.”  

Resources
AMC offers avalanche safety courses each winter: www.outdoors.org/lodging/explorations/multiday/avalanche.cfm

The USFS Avalanche Bulletin is posted on AMC’s website daily: www.outdoors.org/recreation/avalanche.cfm  

- Michael Quist Kautz