Wallowa Avalanche Center expands forecasting with Motorized Pro Observer Program 

WALLOWA COUNTY – The Mountains and Backcountry of Northeast Oregon are going to be a little busier and a lot safer thanks to the Wallowa Avalanche Center’s new Motorized Pro Observer Program. Launched this winter, the Motorized Pro Observer Program provides additional qualifications and training to local snowmobilers who in turn provide on the ground observations to assist the Wallowa Avalanche Center’s forecasters. 

The program was funded by a $12,000 dollar grant from the Avalanche Alliance. The Avalanche Center’s motorized program specifically provides level 1 and 2 Avalanche Research and Education courses, which are 1 day recreation level qualification courses. These courses, in addition to being prerequisites for more advanced professional courses, teach the science of snowpacks and inform the snowmobilers about what kinds of information the Avalanche Center’s forecasters are looking for. 

Once qualified, snowmobilers can provide updates to snowpack and avalanche data from the field. When observation requests are made by forecasters, snowmobilers are given an outline of needed information and can easily upload their findings to the Avalanche Center’s website for public use. For the Pro Observation Program, the funds pay for training, equipment, fuel, and even compensation for the snowmobilers when they provide observations. The snowmobilers themselves use their own snowmobiles. 

In addition to covering training and supply costs, funds from the Avalanche Alliance allow for additional forecasting equipment and non-motorized training. As summarized by Victor McNeil, Director for the Wallowa Avalanche center:

“It’s a neat program that has been put together to not only provide scholarships for snowmobilers and snowbikers that want to take a level one or two course, but also for avalanche centers to buy new weather stations.”

As for the need, put simply, snowmobiles can cover quite a bit of ground. As the Wallowa Avalanche Center is a non-profit organization, funded entirely by fundraisers, memberships, course fees and donations, getting cost effective and accurate data is crucial. As it’s expected that backcountry snowmobilers interested in the program are already experienced and will be traveling the the region frequently for recreation, providing them with additional qualifications and training offers a simple solution to getting essential boots on the ground information. 

In addition, it is hoped the expansion of local motorized training will lead to a longer-term interest in motorized usage and safety overall. McNeil further hopes the current snowmobilers will move on to more advanced courses, allowing them to train others, remarking:

“Just watching how curious this group is, you can tell just by the look in their eye they’re really intrigued to learn about the snow and how dynamic it is. They’re genuinely interested in making the community safer. They’ve all seen the benefit of getting education, but there’s still a lot of folks out there who haven’t been brought in.”

The Wallowa Avalanche Center currently has five fully qualified observers already providing updates. In the future, it’s hoped to expand to around seven or eight. Further, the goal is to expand the geographic distribution of data, with coverage including the Wallowa Mountains, Blue Mountains, and Elkhorn Mountains. Long term, the new observers will help expand the center’s reach, sustainability and accuracy. 

For anyone interested in joining the Pro Observer Program, find more information at the Wallowa Avalanche Center’s website or contact Victor McNeil at victor@wallowaavalanchecenter.org

For anyone interested in supporting the Avalanche Center, their biggest fundraiser event of the year is coming up this weekend. Events include a ski movie night on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at HQ in La Grande, a forecaster clinic along with a raffle and music at Anthony Lakes on Saturday, and a back country ski tour in Angel Basin on Sunday.

**

(Photos provided by the Wallowa Avalanche Center. Left- Paul Stadem. Right- Brett Buchanan. Photo taken by Avalanche Center Forecaster Caleb Merrill)

---

---

• 
• 
• 

---

• 
• 
• 
• 

---