Anna Brown has been interested in avalanches since she was a young girl. During ski trips with her family, she took recreational avalanche classes and found that she was very interested in the science of avalanches.
"In university, I studied French and geography," she says. "I also became a lifeguard. And that led to an interest in joining a ski patrol during the winter because that's what the other lifeguards did with their winter time."
Brown is now an avalanche technician. "When I went with the ski patrol, I found out what I wanted to do. I loved it. And because of my experiences in ski patrol, I went into snow control and avalanche control."
Brown has done a variety of jobs that pertain to avalanche control. She has worked in ski patrol, avalanche prediction, and blasting and avalanche control. She has also worked with ski resorts in the remote backcountry locations.
"I've had formal education in avalanche control and blasting. And I've spent three solid years as an avalanche control group leader," she says.
"It's quite exciting," she says. Sometimes, too exciting. "A couple of my friends have died in the mountains [in avalanches]," she says. "And I've helped with avalanche rescues where a group had to return to the site of an avalanche to do an assessment and take pictures of the site for the coroner."
Those tougher times caused Brown to take a step back and reconsider what she wanted from her career as an avalanche technician. She decided that she wants to continue as an avalanche technician on a ski patrol.
"And I'm super keen on bringing more women in to work with us," she says. There aren't many women involved in the avalanche industry.
"There were some real leaders in the avalanche industry over the past 10 years, but they weren't really good at encouraging women," she says.
Doug Abromeit is an avalanche technician in Ketchum, Idaho. "For myself and for most people, the job becomes an avocation and a vocation at the same time. Most people basically learn on the job," he says.
That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of resources for formal education, however. "Only a handful of colleges offer any formal training in avalanche sciences," he says.
"But there is the National Avalanche School that has classes on odd years and the International Snow Science Workshop, which is an effort of those involved in the industry that offers educational opportunities during the even years."
Abromeit also does a lot of educational work. However, that's more for the general public than specifically for people entering the avalanche industry. "I go to schools and churches and put on slide shows and educate people on how to spot avalanche hazards and avalanche safety. That's a large part of this job."
Abromeit loves his job. "There isn't a whole lot I don't like," he says.
"The government paperwork is something that no one likes. But I get to spend a lot of time working outside. And I can be creative in my educational presentations and even in the advisories that I prepare."
Abromeit also spends a lot of time putting together the avalanche advisories that go out to the general public. "The ski patrol can recognize and mitigate an avalanche hazard," he says.
"But they don't have to be as good as the people who put out avalanche advisories. In the backcountry where nothing disturbs the snow, there are more schizophrenic snowpacks that are prone to causing avalanches. So if you're putting together an advisory, you have to know what you're looking for.
"Probably the most difficult part of the job is putting out the advisories, because people are depending on them, and there are always shades of gray in the avalanche hazard advisory business," he says.
"Understanding snow and the mechanics of snow is the most important skill you can have."