During the coronavirus-shortened 2019/20 winter season, we collected 810 survey responses from 339 different parties exiting the backcountry gates at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

The program, which is outlined in the 2020 Midyear Review and Rescue Report, remains one of the very few organized efforts in the U.S. to gather backcountry-skiing data at a ski area. Historically, capturing habits, numbers, and trends on backcountry travel has been based primarily on anecdotal evidence. Lots of ski tracks and busy trailheads, but it’s hard to say exactly how many people are out there, and if they are educated or equipped to deal with the hazard. This makes the program at JHMR that much more valuable as it helps establish a baseline for backcountry use and builds awareness about avalanche safety, and should be considered a model for the rest of the country. The graphs here show just some of the data collected last winter. A fuller picture will emerge as we continue to mine the data.

Thanks to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort for their continued embrace of this program, and for support from Stio, Flylow and Kate’s Real Food.