VIDEO: How To Dig a Snow Pit | by Bruce Tremper

Bruce Tremper is a legend.  He literally wrote the book on Avalanche safety:  “How to Stay Alive in Avalanche Terrain.”  In this video, he shows us how to dig a snow pit.  Please pay attention.

As head forecaster at the Utah Avalanche Center, Bruce Tremper has dug more snow pits than he can count. We caught up with Bruce in Grizzly Gulch and he walked us through the steps of properly digging a pit and identifying the weak snow layers that could potentially trigger an avalanche. – Backcountry.com

Bruce Tremper Bio:

Bruce has been the Director of the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center since 1986. Bruce grew up in the mountains of western Montana where his father taught him the basics of avalanches at the age of 10. After a successful 15-year ski racing career, he did avalanche control at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Montana, earned a Masters Degree in Geology from Montana State University, studying under the well-known avalanche scientists Dr. John Montagne and Dr. Bob Brown. He then took over as the Director of Avalanche Control at Big Sky Ski Area in Montana and worked as a backcountry avalanche forecaster for the Alaska Avalanche Center. Bruce has been featured in a number of national and international television documentaries about avalanches including those produced by National Geographic, Discovery Channel and PBS as well as appearing on a number of national network news programs. Bruce wrote the book “Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain,” published by Mountaineers Books, now in its second edition. – Utah Avalanche Center