Snow Safety education for all

BRASS expands training across all USSS disciplines

Many of us vividly remember exactly where we were when we heard the terrible news that an Austrian avalanche had taken the lives of USST members Bryce Astle and Ronnie Berlack. Since that awful day, the two families and USSS have made it their noble mission to advance snow safety education and prevent further tragedy. Ski Racing Media believes it is essential to bring visibility to the critical work of BRASS, the Bryce and Ronnie Snow Safety Foundation. Peter Lange Publisher Ski Racing Media

This spring, the all staff meeting at US Ski and Snowboard kicked off with a unique presentation. USSS welcomed the BRASS Foundation to present avalanche education to eighty staff from all its disciplines as part of its ongoing commitment to protect its athletes.

This was the latest phase of fulfilling the mission of BRASS—the Bryce and Ronnie Snow Safety Foundation—which was established in the wake of the 2015 avalanche in Soelden, AUT, that claimed the lives of Bryce Astle and Ronnie Berlack. Their parents, Jamie Astle and Cindy Berlack, were on hand to share the impact of that tragedy and reiterate the importance of this education and training in protecting athletes across all snowsports disciplines. 

BRASS avalanche snow safety instructor Lindsay Mann called the training a milestone. “It was the first time we’ve been able to reach US Ski and Snowboard coaches, techs and physios of all disciplines,” says Mann. Offering it during the spring meetings also afforded more time to expand on the CASS (Coaches and Athletes Snow Safety) presentation BRASS offered to Alpine athletes in Copper Mountain last November.  Mann explained, “It allowed us to breathe a little bit more with how much content and information we want to share with everybody.”

THE PROGRAM

Cindy Berlack started the sessions with a brief introduction to connect the 2015 accident to BRASS’s snow safety mission. She then handed off to USSS Chief of Sport Anouk Patty, who acknowledged the accident, which happened to athletes while training with US Ski and Snowboard, and reiterated the commitment of USSS to athlete safety. 

From there, Mann led an hour-and-a-half presentation which started with a powerful video showing an avalanche barrel down a mountainside in March 2023 and buried the start of a World Cup slopestyle venue in Tignes, FRA. That image led to a talk about the importance of this training for anyone working with competitive SnowSport athletes. 

Similar to the CASS presentation, the training is specifically designed to give coaches tools to use when they encounter different snow climates and avalanche mitigation practices worldwide. It is not meant to make coaches ski guides; instead, it aims to inform decisions that will help all staff improve athlete safety while training and competing–and on days off–anywhere they may be. In addition to avalanche fundamentals, Mann explained how avalanche mitigation practices vary outside of the US, showed the different international signage for avalanche hazards, and reviewed resources for finding avalanche forecasts at home and abroad. The BRASS website includes links to all the various forecasting centers worldwide. A lack of this understanding and information directly led to the tragedy in Sölden. 

ALL HANDS ON SHOVELS, PROBES AND TRANSCEIVERS

After breaking for lunch, the group reconvened for a two-hour session at the COE, rotating through three interactive stations. Bruce Edgerly, founder of Back Country Access, and avalanche forecaster Dale Atkins crewed a station with instructions on using transceivers. Paul Diegel, the creator of Utah Avalanche Center’s Know Before You Go online education, joined Weston Deutschlander, also from the Utah Avalanche Center, to lead instruction with probes and shovels. Mann and local avalanche expert Tony Gill covered a station reviewing essential gear that can be carried in a coach’s backpack. 

“The safety of our staff and athletes is priority number one,” says Patty, who was pleased with the presentations. “BRASS coming to our All Staff and presenting on avalanche awareness and safety was a huge success and staff were very engaged.”

THE POWER OF CONNECTION

Berlack enjoyed a warm reception after the classroom sessions. “There was a huge outpouring of appreciation for that,” says Berlack. Having Berlack and Astle participate was a powerful piece of the presentation, as was the setting that offered the opportunity for interactions both at the presentations and around the hotel before and after. Those conversations underscored how vital education is to athletes and coaches across snowsports and their specific needs for content and delivery. Snowboard coach Maddy Shaffrick noted how often her athletes are filming in the backcountry, accessing terrain by snowmobile and other means.  

“Being in close proximity initiated conversations with individual discipline coaches about how to deliver training to their athletes,” says Mann. 

Among them was Greta Anderson, who coaches the US Development XC Team.  Her job is to take extremely fit, talented, enthusiastic athletes as young as 16 and help them progress onto the national team. “It’s a group that has a ton of enthusiasm and not much experience in so many aspects of what they do,” says Anderson. She sees the training as particularly relevant for Nordic skiers who can get themselves very far back in the mountains and in trouble.

Anderson estimates her athletes spend a cumulative 100 hours plus training in avalanche terrain, whether on training trails in natural areas of avalanche risk, in springtime when training brings them into the backcountry, or in summer and fall on glaciers. “Those are all areas where the environment is a big safety factor,” says Anderson. “You don’t have to be an expert, but you do need to know what you don’t know.” She found the training to be an excellent use of time at the staff summit and is working with BRASS to find more ways to educate her athletes. 

WHAT’S NEXT AND WHAT’S NEEDED

“BRASS did a great job providing relevant content and educational material that is very actionable,” says Patty. “We’re excited about the continuing education and awareness opportunities we will implement with BRASS. The next step is educating the athletes.” To that end, Berlack hopes to be invited back to Copper and would like to see an established rotation every year to capture new athletes and coaches as they onboard. BRASS is also working on a club level CASS program that clubs can participate in early season at Copper. BRASS will also present to new US Ski Team athletes at the upcoming Rookie Camp.

Next on Berlack’s wish list is for USSS to revise and publicize their snow safety policy, which will define the ongoing daily practices of the ski groups to keep athletes safe. BRASS, a small nonprofit, also needs some financial understanding of what USSS can contribute to the cause. “It does cost real money for these professionals to take their time and create the programs and to travel to presentations,” says Berlack, adding, “In person is really the best way to deliver this information, especially initially.”

Berlack was especially pleased to spend time in person with Patty and Gwynn Watkins, who has been with USSS since 2011 and has been instrumental in fostering the connection between both organizations from the start. “It’s just refreshing to have direct communication,” says Berlack. She distilled her thoughts on the event with one feeling: “Uplifting. It feels as though Ronnie and Bryce’s passing amounts to something and we’re contributing to keeping other families from suffering the way we have.”

Learn more at Brass Avalanche, https://brassavalanche.org/