Welcome to Awe, Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We’re on the radio and we’re also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out at awenice.com.

This week, I talked with Alex Marienthal from Montana. After high school, Alex left Boulder, Colorado, for Montana State University where he studied snow science as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student. Before becoming an avalanche forecaster, he worked for the ski patrol at the Bridger Bowl outside of Bozeman. Part of the job was mitigating avalanche risk which often involved setting off explosives, to get the snow headed downhill preemptively.

To further set the scene, Bridger Bowl has some spots that are strictly for advanced skiers and it requires those skiers to have avalanche beacons on them if they’re going to access those spaces. As a ski patroller, Alex always skied with a beacon, a shovel, and a probe pole.

Every year, Alex told me, at least one person he knows – a backcountry guide, a ski patroller or someone in his professional community – is killed in an avalanche. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, an average of 27 people die in avalanches each winter in the U.S.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here.

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Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.