11th Annual Wyoming Snow & Avalanche Workshop

Nov. 14-15, 2025

The Center for the Arts | Jackson, Wyoming

We are excited to announce that the 11th Annual Wyoming Snow & Avalanche Workshop will be held on November 14-15, 2025, at the beautiful Center for the Arts in downtown Jackson, Wyo.

A stellar lineup of speakers will help backcountry users of all levels brush off the summer dirt as we head into another Wyoming winter. See the full schedule below.

Friday, Nov. 14:
Pro Day is tailored to professionals in the field of snow and avalanche safety. ($10)
Saturday, Nov. 15:
Rec Day is intended for all backcountry users. ($35)
Attend both days for just $40!

Lunch included on Saturday thanks to Pica’s!
Free beer thanks to Snake River Brew Pub and Roadhouse!
Huge raffle to support TCSAR volunteers thanks to over 25 generous businesses!
Vendor fair with your favorite outdoor brands and nonprofits!

Make sure you register to get all the perks for the event.

The 11th Annual WYSAW is generously sponsored by: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board, Bank of Jackson Hole, Raintree Foundation, and the Stephen P. Adamson Jr. Memorial Fund, with support from Architecture Stone + Tile, Steve Romeo Memorial Fund, and the American Avalanche Association.

2025 WYSAW is sponsored by:

NOVEMBER 14, PRO DAY: RUN OF SHOW

11:30 AM: DOORS OPEN

12:00 PM: WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS BY WYSAW EMCEE, THE INIMITABLE LYNNE WOLFE

12:15 pm: MARK STANLEY, TAMING AVALANCHES PATHS AROUND THE BRUCEJACK MINE, BC

An Overview of the Mountain Safety program at an active mine in Northern British Columbia. The Brucejack Mine is a gold mining project in a remote setting with a 75-kilometer-long access road with over 100 avalanche paths. The project operates 24 hours a day, year round, with an avalanche staff of 20 during winter months.

Mark Stanley has spent most of his career working as a ski guide in all sectors: helicopter skiing, snowcat skiing, and lodge-based ski touring. Ten years ago, he transitioned from guiding into the world of Industrial Avalanche Forecasting and worked his up to the position of Mountain Safety Supervisor for the Newmonts Brucejack Mine.

1:00 PM: PAT DRYER, DRONES AS TOOLS FOR AVALANCHE MITIGATION AND SEARCH & RESCUE

Patrick Dryer is an avalanche and geohazard specialist with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities in Juneau, Alaska.

Pat has over a decade of experience in avalanche forecasting and emergency response. He holds an M.S. in Geospatial Sciences and has served as a lead instructor with the Alaska Avalanche School. Pat has been a dedicated volunteer with Juneau Mountain Rescue for more than a decade and is a founding member of the Coastal Alaska Avalanche Center. As former Eaglecrest Ski Area patroller, he brings both technical expertise and a lifelong passion for skiing and winter safety to his work and research initiatives.

1:40-1:50 PM: BREAK + VENDOR FAIR IN CENTER LOBBY

1:50 PM: AMERICAN AVALANCHE ASSOCIATION (A3) UPDATE, WITH JAYNE NOLAN

Jayne Nolan is the executive director of the American Avalanche Association.

She will give an update to the latest news from A3, a nonprofit organization dedicated to professional excellence in avalanche safety, education and research in the United States.

2:05 PM: TYLER HARTRIDGE, AFTER THE AVALANCHE: RESUSCITATION TECHNIQUES WITH BURIAL SIMULATOR

In this interactive workshop, Tyler Hartridge will teach first aid skills in response to an avalanche. The presentation will include a novel simulator designed to add higher fidelity to the experience.

Tyler is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Utah, a fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, has a diploma in Mountain Medicine, and is a member of the Snowbird Ski Patrol.

2:45 PM: CHRISSIE OKEN, REMAIN CALM: MANAGING STRESSFUL SITUATIONS IN THE BACKCOUNTRY

Chrissie Oken will share the many lessons learned from over a decade working in EMS, Ski Patrol, and Search & Rescue.

Chrissie Oken has worked as a Denali National Park Mountaineering Ranger since 2020, and as a ski patroller at Vail, Colo., since 2015. She has been a Pro Course instructor for the American Avalanche Institute. She worked for NOLS for 10 years as a mountaineering, backcountry skiing, and avalanche instructor in Alaska, the Tetons, New Zealand, and the Himalaya. Her initial experience in EMS was working with Eagle County Paramedics in Colorado. She obtained her paramedic license in 2023 and practices on Denali and at Vail.

3:30 PM: BREAK + VENDOR FAIR

3:45 PM: STUMP THE CHUMP! WITH GABRIELLE ANTONIOLI, FORMER LEAD FORECASTER FOR BRIDGER-TETON AVALANCHE CENTER AND INCOMING DIRECTOR FOR THE PAYETTE AVALANCHE CENTER.

4:00 PM: PANEL ON SKI CUTTING: A TEST OR A TOOL? MODERATED BY BRENDEN CRONIN

Brenden Cronin has worked as a highway avalanche forecaster, ski patroller, avalanche educator, heli and snowcat ski guide, snowmaker and contract avalanche forecaster. Brenden's buisness, Avalanche Infrastructure Management, provides sales and service of Remote Avalanche Control Systems (RACS) manufactured by the Swiss company Inauen-Schätti AG for the North American market. However, first and foremost he's a ski bum who moved west from Saugus, Mass., with the goal of "being a skier.”

This panel will explore the ins and outs of ski cutting, and will try to answer the question: Are we avalanche avoiders, or avalanche mitigators?

Panelists are: Morgan McGlashon, Duncan Lee, Chrissie Oken, Lisa Van Sciver, Mark Stanley

5:30-7:00 PM: HAPPY HOUR AT STILLWEST BREWING PRESENTED BY A3 AND MAMMUT. ALL ARE WELCOME!

November 15, REC DAY: RUN OF SHOW

9:30 AM: DOORS OPEN AT THE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

10:00 AM: WELCOME REMARKS

10:15 AM: DUNCAN LEE: SCALE, PERSPECTIVE, AND PROCESS: HUMAN POWERED AND MOTORIZED BACKCOUNTRY NAVIGATION

Duncan Lee will be breaking down how his experience as a sledder needed to be crafted to fit avalanche education into the way we use terrain and use the mountains. Ten years ago, avalanche education wasn’t made for motorized users so he had to interpret avalanche education and apply it to how people ride.

Duncan is a professional backcountry athlete for FXR Racing as well as sales rep. He’s also a professional and recreational avalanche education instructor teaching for the Sierra Avalanche Center, AIARE, the Mountain Riding Lab, and provides custom courses through Let’s Ride Adventures. He believes in spreading the knowledge of avalanche education to all riders in the snowmobile industry and sharing what he’s learned along the way.

10:55 AM: LIZ KING, HAVING AN OPINION: FORECASTING 101 AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RISK MANAGEMENT

This presentation will take a look at the daily work flow of an avalanche forecaster and discuss how a pro’s morning routine can be adopted by anyone. We will look “behind the curtain,” aiming to borrow some of the habits that serve forecasters, and ultimately improving how we understand and manage risk. Get a roadmap for interpreting data, recognizing trends, and moving through the Conceptual Model of Avalanche Hazard. In this talk Liz is hoping to push people to have an opinion before looking to the local avy bulletin, developing morning routines that build better risk management skills.

Liz King is the Avalanche Program Director of the American Avalanche Institute and Colorado Mountain School where she is responsible for overseeing all facets of our avalanche program including the Recreational, Professional and Provider Programs. Liz's formative years in the avalanche industry were spent working as a ski patroller, NOLS winter instructor, & ski guide/avalanche educator at Yostmark Backcountry Tours. In 2019, she joined the AAI Instructor Team – leading both Recreational and Professional courses and also took the position of Preventative Search & Rescue Manager at the Teton County Search & Rescue Foundation. Most recently, Liz has served as the Education Chair on the Board of Directors at the American Avalanche Association, where she is now in the VP role. She lives in Victor, Idaho, with her husband, shaggy dogs, and horses.

11:30 AM: BREAK + VENDOR FAIR

11:45 AM: DALLAS GLASS, THE NINE AVALANCHE PROBLEMS: WHAT CRAYOLA CRAYONS CAN TEACH US ABOUT AVOIDING AVALANCHES

We all want to know what we're up against when we head into the mountains. Avalanche problems give us a tool to communicate and discuss what beast we're dealing with today. But it's not always that simple. We'll dive into our nine avalanche problems and how we can use observations to form a clearer picture of the current hazard and how to manage it.

Dallas Glass currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Northwest Avalanche Center. His two-decade avalanche career spans forecasting for ski areas, highways, and public operations, as well as avalanche education and mountain guiding. Despite what he may tell you, he must just love being cold. When not wading through Washington powder, you might find him waist-deep fishing a big glacial river or stretching his legs on a backyard trailrun.

12:30-1:35 PM: FREE BURRITO FROM PICA’S, PLUS LUNCH & LEARNS

In a new WYSAW offering, the Lunch & Learn will allow attendees to break out into four smaller group sessions. The idea is to provide a casual setting where people can network and gain practical takeaways.

• Tactical Field Techniques, with Jen Reddy, Helen Lewis, Kaylee McKenna, and Laura Gaylord

• Real Talk with the Pros: A panel discussion with Lynne Wolfe, Liz King, Chrissie Oken, Dallas Glass, and Gabrielle Antonioli

• Digital Mapping and Navigation: The pros and cons of different tools, with David Mathes

• Avalanche Resuscitation and Burial Simulator, with Docs TJ Hartridge, Scott McIntosh, and Brendan Lutz

1:45 PM: STUMP THE CHUMP! WITH GABRIELLE ANTONIOLI, FORMER LEAD FORECASTER FOR BRIDGER-TETON AVALANCHE CENTER AND INCOMING DIRECTOR FOR THE PAYETTE AVALANCHE CENTER.

2:00 PM: ALEX DRINKARD, UPDATES AND CASE STUDIES FROM THE BRIDGER-TETON AVALANCHE CENTER

2:35 PM: KELLY MCNEIL + IAN MCCAMMON, AVALANCHE ACCIDENTS: WHAT THE TRENDS ARE TELLING US?

This presentation explores risk management trends over the past 50 years for backcountry recreationalists. We will examine how these trends have changed over time, as well as compare non-motorized to motorized users. We explore what these trends might mean for improved avalanche safety messaging.

Kelly McNeil is a Professor in the Health and Human Performance department focusing on Community Health. Her research involves community -wide intervention to change behaviors for the health and safety of the public. Dr. McNeil is currently working on incorporating public health theories and practices within the avalanche industry. This fits well as she is also an avalanche instructor and forecaster as well as a program evaluator, assessing the effectiveness of existing programs. Kelly grew up in northeastern Wyoming and loves just about anything outside and active with her husband and dogs.

For most of his professional career Ian McCammon has led a double life, mixing the world of avalanche research and education with the world of engineering. A former NOLS instructor, he has a passion for doing work that helps people travel the backcountry safely. He has recently retired from the engineering world.

3:05 PM: BREAK + VENDOR FAIR

3:25 PM: ALEX NORTON, A YEAR IN REVIEW AT TETON COUNTY SEARCH & RESCUE: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM LOCAL INCIDENT DATA

Alex Norton has been a member of Teton County Search & Rescue since 2007, and currently serves as the team’s Planning Advisor. His is a map, data, and statistician whiz who helps the rest of the team use incident data to build their mission profile. Alex lives in Jackson with his wife and two kids.

3:45 PM: THE FINE LINE LIVE: A CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS KITCHEN ABOUT THE 2025 ROCK SPRINGS AVALANCHE

In February 2025, longtime Jackson local and filmmaker Chris Kitchen was in a group of seven people who were caught in a large avalanche in the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort backcountry. He joins The Fine Line podcast host and former Powder magazine editor Matt Hansen on stage to discuss the event, explain what went wrong, the relationship between media and backcountry safety, and what lessons the group learned.

Chris is co-founder and current CEO of KGB Productions. For over 20 years he has created commercial content with a focus in the outdoor space. Backcountry skiing both recreationally and professionally has been  major component of his life and allowed him to ski  all over the world and work with some of the best, athletes, guides, outfitters, forecasters and  people in the business and the mountains.

4:20 PM: RAFFLE WINNERS ANNOUNCED! Need not be present to win. All proceeds support TCSAR volunteers!

4:30 PM: CLOSING REMARKS… AND BEER FROM ROADHOUSE BREWING AND SNAKE RIVER BREWING.

WYSAW is just one step in our lifelong commitment to learning how to safely navigate in the mountains. Please sign up for our newsletter so you never miss a chance to participate, and visit BackcountryZero.com for important event information. Thanks for doing your part to make backcountry safety a priority in Jackson Hole!

Every presentation from the 2024 WYSAW was recorded and is available to watch on YouTube and Vimeo.

The WYSAW Story: How Did We Get Here?

In 2015, the Wyoming Snow & Avalanche Workshop was launched in the spirit of continued education and as an invitation to the local backcountry community to have open, honest conversations about adventure, risk, and consequence. At the time, the community was reeling from some very tragic and high-profile winter accidents. Organizers decided to push forward with WYSAW as a way to help the community heal with an opportunity to connect and learn.

Today, that original spirit and intent is as important as ever, as WYSAW reaches its 10th anniversary this October. Check the link below to read the full history about how WYSAW started, who was behind the effort to positively shift backcountry culture in the Tetons, and why it remains so important today. And please, join us on October 18-19, 2024, at the Center for the Arts to keep the movement going.

Thank You to Our 2025 WYSAW Sponsors!