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Archive Index - All Editions

Propagation Labs Tries (again) to Revolutionize Snow Observations

Propagation Labs is working on a new Snow Scope probe–an electronic pressure-sensing avalanche probe that can identify minute changes in snow hardness to create snow profiles in a matter of seconds. For founders Garrett Harmsen and Joe Travato, creating a tool that can rapidly produce accurate data in the backcountry came from a desire to meaningfully contribute to their beloved backcountry skiing community. In fact, Travato admits that the new venture is probably not a great business decision, saying, “There’s not really a whole lot of people who will find a need to buy this."

Travato and Harmsen met while working at a similar company in Park City back in 2014 called Avatech, who produced the original digital snow scoping device called the SP1. Both helped to develop the original SP1 probe, which suffered from some inherent design flaws and often failed to produce usable data. Avatech ultimately failed. In 2020 (~4 years ago now), they launched Propagation Labs.

[Interestingly enough I recently came across a 2014/15 issue of "Ascent" touring the SP1 probe along with "AvaNet" for collecting and sharing information. I was wondering whatever happened to that project and now we know. There is a website for "Ascent" magazine but the latest material is several years old now and a search of the site does not turn up the article on SP1. Perhaps more can be written later in a blog post on this whole topic. - Avalanche-Center.org note]
More ... (Powder Magazine)

Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) Digital Archive

It's not clear why this showed up in a news search since all we got is a link to the archive. However, this is a potentially very useful database of technical articles. The link is for searching by date but on the right is a panel for searching by other parameters. Unfortunately not all articles are actually available freely online, some require paid access (personally per article or via an institutional subscription) from certain journals.
More ... (NGI)

Avalanche Hits Climbers on Khan Tengri, One Dead

Two avalanches hit a group of four climbers on 7,010m Khan Tengri in the Tien Shan Mountains on July 29, according to the Kazinform News Agency and other Kazakh sources. Three Kazakh climbers from Almaty survived, but Aleksey Smirnov from Moscow died.

The four climbers escaped the first avalanche, but later that day, a second, deadlier one came down from nearby Chapaev Peak. The three Kazakh climbers, Boris Dedeshko, Pavel Blazhnov and Marianna Petrova, saved themselves by diving behind some rocks that gave them access to air. But Smirnov could not reach the rocks in time and perished. After the slide passed, the survivors called for help on the radio. Four nearby guides rescued them within 40 minutes.
More ... (Explorers Web)