The Avalanche Hour Podcast

Summer Series #3

We continue our summer series with a cross-air of one of our favorite podcasts, ⁠Delivering Adventure⁠.

Why is it so important to imagine the worst-case scenario? What happens when we don’t?
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Chris and Jordy share a few examples from their adventure industry careers to illustrate the importance of considering the worst-case scenario. They also talk about some of the factors that can compromise our ability to foresee what can happen if things don’t go to plan and how we can avoid falling into these traps.
Chris Kaipio has been working in the adventure guiding industry as a guide, instructor, trainer, manager and content developer since 1991.
Jordy Shepard is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden.
Key Takeaways
How we can imagine the wort-case scenario:
Consider What can Reasonably Happen: This involves asking ourselves what all the possible negative outcomes could be and identifying if we are prepared if they come to pass.
Be detail oriented: The difference between a professional and an amateur is being detail oriented. Considering all the details before hand gives us an opportunity to identify and plan for all the likely outcomes that may happen.
Think ahead: This can require us to step away from complex situations so that we can fully consider the situation and what lies ahead.
Ask if we are Missing Anything: Is there information that we might be missing? This is something that we should always be asking ourselves. This helps to avoid developing tunnel vision.
Do your research: This can involve talking to others and looking at case-studies.
Training and Simulations: This can give us firsthand experience with what can happen.
Communicate the Risks Thoroughly: This creates an opportunity for everyone to understand what hazards they can expect to encounter.
Guest Bios
Chris Kaipio is the produce and co-host of Delivering Adventure.
He has worked in the adventure industry as an instructor, guide, trainer and manager since 2001.
Chris is currently developing the Managing Risk on Snow eLearning Certification for the Professional Ski Instructors of Canada. When complete, this will be a robust four level online risk management and decision-making certification for guides and Instructors.
Chris has written the book Power to Influence: How to get the best out of ourselves and others. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. This is where he met Jordy Shepherd.
Jordy Shepherd is the co-host of Delivering Adventure.
Jordy is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden.
His work experience includes Canadian Avalanche Association Course Leader for Avalanche Search and Rescue Advanced Skills, Provincial Park Ranger, National Park Warden, Wildlife Conflict Specialist, Wildland and Structural Firefighter, Mountain and Industrial Rescue Specialist, Heli-skiing Operations Manager and Lead Guide, and Licensed Real Estate Agent. 
In addition to all of his work in the adventure guiding industry, Jordy runs a successful real estate company in Canmore Alberta where he currently lives with is family.

Follow, Subscribe and Listen to more Delivering Adventure Podcasts here.

2026 Summer Series #2
On 22 April 2023, a group of three were caught in an avalanche in the Godmother Couloir in Lyngen, in Northern Norway. Two of them were severely injured and had to be airlifted out for life-saving treatment. It was a matter of life and death… One managed to get out on his own and rushed to the hospital.
Niels Sole Semb and Victor Rizzardi speak openly and honestly about their experience from the day of the accident—what went wrong, and what lessons can be learned.
We are grateful to be able to share this story with the listeners of The Avalanche Hour and hope that you will learn something from this excellent episode originally recorded, produced, and released by Skredpodden.

You can find a video of a presentation Niels gave about this incident here.

Thank you to our current season long sponsors:
Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund
Drone Amplified
Austin Powder
PeakVisor

We are currently looking for sponsors and underwriting to continue production. See availability and details here.

What do we actually mean when we call something a deep persistent slab? Does the name help—or does it create confusion?
In this episode, Caleb sits down with Grant Statham, Bruce Jamieson, and Mark Staples for a thoughtful discussion sparked by a letter Grant wrote after listening to a previous episode. The conversation explores whether avalanches failing near the ground deserve their own distinct classification, how terminology shapes terrain decisions, and the challenge of communicating complex snowpack problems to both professionals and the public.
From heli-ski run lists to avalanche forecasting, this is a conversation about language, uncertainty, and the evolving way we think about avalanche problems.

The Nine Avalanche Problems Through the Lens of Crayola Crayons, by Dallas Glass

Season 11 Sponsorship and Advertising Opportunities are available. Click here to find out more.

Thanks to Angie Lake for Production Support
Thanks to Cameron Griffin for Website support
Logo Artwork: Mike Tea

Join us for our seventh installment of Slabs ‘n Sluff with your hosts Sara Boilen and Dom Baker, joined by Caleb Merrill! The crew discuss spring adventures, summer skiing, and cows raiding Caleb’s food cache at an Andes basecamp!   They also review recent episodes from April and May and preview a few exciting things coming up on the Avalanche Hour Podcast. Tune in to hear from Scott Thumlert and Simon Horton of the ISSW 2026 technical committee to learn more about the process of getting 100s of abstracts ready presenting next fall in Whistler.  Avalanche Hour Podcast hosts Brooke Shiny Edwards, Sean Zimmerman-Wall and Joe Stock leave messages for the crew to shout out learning moments and moments of gratitude from their seasons.
Episode Summary:
Sara, Caleb and Dom discuss spring adventures, summer skiing and the challenges of keeping a food cache away from a herd of hungry cows.

Review of the last month of programming, highlighting interviews that captured the hosts imagination or got us thinking

The joys of gravel riding, paddling and hiking for hours in the dirt to find summer snow.

The ISSW 2026 technical committee members Scott Thumlert and Simon Horton drop by for a chat

Voicemails from Avalanche Hour Podcast hosts Brooke Shiny Edwards, Sean Zimmerman-Wall and Joe Stock.

Thanks to the sponsors of the show.
Legacy Sponsors:
Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund
AVSS
Drone Amplified
Partner Sponsors:
Austin Powder
Safeback
onX Backcountry
Music: Ketsa
Artwork: Mike Tea 
Production: Caleb Merrill, Angie Lake

Episode Summary:
- A conversation with AVSS introduces PAMS, a Precision Avalanche Management System, designed to reliably drop explosives from a drone platform.
- The episode explores the prior experience AVSS brings to the avalanche industry from remote drone operations in logistics and military contexts.  
- The conversation looks at the development process and field testing with Jasper National Park.
- A glimpse at the next 12 months of testing through an early-adopter program.
In this episode of The Avalanche Hour Podcast, hosts Caleb Merrill and Dom Baker sit down with the team at AVSS for a conversation about the development process of creating a drone based avalanche control system from the ground up. 
You will hear how this technology aims to create opportunities for greater worker safety, reliability of avalanche hazard management and the evolving list of use cases. The episode also examines how these tools could fit into existing avalanche mitigation strategies and what their growing presence signals about the future of the field.
Josh from AVSS discusses the field testing process with avalanche control programs in Western Canada and the plans for an early adopter program for winter 2026/27 to further refine the workflow and ensure the technology meets the needs of the avalanche industry.
A huge thank you to AVSS for being a Legacy Sponsor of the podcast this season. We couldn’t keep the mics on without them! 
Resources from the Episode: 
Check out AVSS’s homepage here
Check out a story on CBC Radio with Josh from AVSS 
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