Our Cat Skiing crew has been pushing out beyond the boundaries of our lift-served terrain.  The guides and operators have been building our over the snow roads and conducting the initial rounds of avalanche mitigation work.  Our mitigation strategies include the use of explosives, ski cutting/stepping, and utilizing the disruption roller.

The roller disrupts shear plane layers within the snow and creates bonding between individual snow crystals. These snowpack elements, if left undisturbed, create weak layers that could possibly contribute to a future avalanche. The machine helps to break down these weak layers while creating a more unified snowpack structure. Additionally, the roller roughs up the snow surface enabling future snowfall to adhere to it. The roller essentially does the work of boot-packers without exposing personnel into a potentially hazardous area.

The roller has a drive motor and remote control steering that helps it drive off the ridge top and down into the bowl. From there, gravity and the winch cat allow the unit to be lowered to the bottom of the avalanche start zone. Once this area of the snowpack has been disturbed, the winch cable then pulls the roller back to the ridge line.  The roller can then be steered and lowered to an adjacent undisturbed area until the entirety of the start zone has been disrupted.

While we wait for snow, the Mtn Ops team is literally getting ready to roll on future rope drops.