| Management Team | |
| Ethan Greene | Director |
| Brian Lazar | Deputy Director, Central Mountains Lead Forecaster |
| Mike Cooperstein | Northern Mountains Lead Forecaster |
| Rebecca Hodgetts | Southern Mountains Lead Forecaster |
| Naomi Hodges | Program Assistant |
| Northern Mountains Group | Central Mountains Group | Southern Mountains Group |
| Mike Floyd | Polly Layton | Mike Barney |
| Jason Konigsberg | Brandon Levy | Chris Bilbrey |
| Spencer Logan | John Snook | Jeff Davis |
| Ben Pritchett | Bo Torrey | Matt Huber |
| Kreston Rohrig | Andrea Tupy | Ann Mellick |
| Ron Simenhois | Colin Mitchell | |
| Ryan Zarter |
Ethan Greene, Director
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Brian Lazar, Deputy Director
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Mike Cooperstein, Northern Mountains Lead Forecaster
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Rebecca Hodgetts, Southern Mountains Lead Forecaster
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Mike Barney
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Chris Bilbrey
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Jeff Davis
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Mike Floyd
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Matt Huber
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Jason Konigsberg
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Polly Layton
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Brandon Levy
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Spencer Logan
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Ann Mellick
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Colin Mitchell
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Ben Pritchett
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Kreston Rohrig
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Ron Simenhois
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John Snook
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Bo Torrey
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Andrea Tupy
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Ryan Zarter
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Ethan has worked with snow and avalanches since 1990 and directed the CAIC since 2005. He grew up in Boulder, Colorado and worked as a ski patroller (Big Sky Ski Resort, Montana) and as a backcountry avalanche forecaster (USFS Utah Avalanche Forecast Center). He studied meteorology (B.S., University of Utah), mountain weather and snow-drift formation (M.S., Colorado State University), and snow metamorphism and microstructure (Ph.D., Colorado State University). Ethan has published a variety of articles and been a member of national and international working groups on snow, weather, and avalanche topics. Ethan lives in Leadville with his wife and two children.
Brian began working in the mountains in the mid 1990s. He has worked in a variety of snow climates on both sides of the equator as a mountain guide, as an avalanche educator, curriculum developer, as the former Executive Director with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), and member of the American Avalanche Association Education Committee. Brian earned a M.S. in Engineering, studying snow and ice mechanics in Alaska’s Chugach Range. He worked for many years as a consultant to the ski industry, investigating snowpack runoff and potential changes to seasonal snowpacks as a result of climate change. Brian has been the Deputy Director of the CAIC since 2010. Brian lives in Carbondale with his wife and two kids.
Mike “Coop” Cooperstein began his snow career when he was 18 years old, as a ski patroller at Snowshoe in West Virginia. He soon moved to Bozeman, Montana. He worked at the Yellowstone Club for 11 seasons as the Assistant Snow Safety and Assistant Ski Patrol Director. In 2008, he completed his M.S. in Earth Sciences from Montana State University studying surface hoar and near-sruface faceting. He co-owned a guide service, climbing and skiing in some of the world’s highest ranges. Coop came to the CAIC in 2015.
Rebecca “Becs” Hodgetts began patrolling in the mid 1990s on Mt Ruapehu, a volcano located in the central plateau of New Zealand’s North Island. She went on to work at other resorts in New Zealand, Canada, and the US. She worked 12 years at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, first as an avalanche technician and later as Assistant Patrol Director. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Otago University and completed the Canadian Avalanche Association’s Applied Avalanche Risk Management course. Since joining the CAIC, she has worked as both a highway and backcountry forecaster.
Mike has worked as a ski guide since the mid-2000s. He started his avalanche forecasting career in 2011, working for Valdez Heli-Camps as their snow safety director. From Valdez, he went on to guide heli-skiing, most recently in Patagonia, Pakistan, and Iceland. Mike lives in Silverton, Colorado, with his wife and two daughters.
Chris learned about backcountry skiing in the late 1990s at Fort Lewis College. His avalanche career spans almost two decades as a ski patroller at Wolf Creek Ski Area, snowpack field observer and educator for the Friends of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center, and forecaster at the Flathead Avalanche Center. Chris is pursuing a M.S. from Montana State University integrating snow and environmental science research. He worked as a firefighter and EMT for Durango Fire. Chris loves spending time in the mountains, remote river canyons, and landing big fish with his wife and daughter.
Jeff joined the CAIC in 2015 with a background in Ski Patrol and Risk Management in Colorado and New Zealand. His enthusiasm for avalanche forecasting and spending time in the backcountry has allowed his passion for the snow to grow each season. Growing up in Ohio, Jeff is continually in awe of the San Juan Mountains he now calls home. When Jeff is not sliding on snow he enjoys tinkering in his shed, hanging with his old dog Mr. Abe, or sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan.
Mike is the middle of three sons in a skiing family from Vail, Colorado. He started skiing in the backcountry during his college years in Gunnison and that led him to a career in avalanche work. He lived in the Pacific Northwest where he spent a few wet seasons learning about maritime snow. He eventually missed continental snow and Colorado sunshine, so he returned home and was hired by Vail Ski Patrol in 2012. Mike has additional expertise in cartography and is fascinated by maps. Mike loves riding bikes and dreams of someday living in the Alps with his wife and two kids.
Matt began working as a ski patroller at Snowmass in 1996 and quickly moved into a dedicated snow safety position. In 2015, he and his family moved on to Idaho. He returned to Colorado and the CAIC in 2018 and currently focuses on highway avalanche safety on the southeast side of the San Juan Mountains. He spent most of the summer seasons since 1993 working for the US Forest Service in their wildfire program and cursing the heat while waiting for the snow to fall.
Jason made the pilgrimage from the east coast to Steamboat Springs in 1999. Jason joined the ski patrol at Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah in 2005, and became part of the resort’s snow safety team. The need for more winter led Jason to spend summers in New Zealand as the snow safety officer at Craigieburn Valley ski area and the public forecaster for the Craigieburn Range. Now adjusting to life with only one winter per year, Jason spends his summers riding bikes, combing through avalanche and weather data, and avoiding climates where daytime high temperatures exceed 75 degrees.
Polly grew up in Coloardo’s Pikes Peak region. She developed her love of snow science as part of the snow safety team at Winter Park for almost a decade. She spent a season patrolling in Chile. She shifted her focus to guiding, in Colorado on Jones Pass, in California with Shasta Mountain Guides, and in Canada for Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing. For several years she was based out of Revelstoke, guiding for Eagle Pass and K3. She joined the CAIC in 2020. Polly enjoys mountain biking, adventures with her family, and surfing as much as possible.
Brandon is originally from the Vail area and enjoys working and raising a family in the mountains of Colorado. Prior to joining the CAIC in 2017, Brandon worked as a highway avalanche forecaster for the Washington State Department of Transportation and as a ski patroller in Colorado, France, and New Zealand. He enjoys time outside with family and friends in the mountains and rivers of Colorado and the Western US.
Spencer began skiing in northern Colorado and began learning about avalanches in northern Utah. He continued his avalanche education in southern Montana with an MS in Earth Sciences from Montana State University. He joined the CAIC in 2004. He has collaborated with colleagues from the CAIC, North America, and Europe to better understand trends and patterns in avalanche accidents and occurrences. His kids are the fourth generation of the family to ski and the fifth to fish in Colorado.
Ann spent much of her avalanche career in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. She began under the wing of a longtime forecaster in the late 90s and worked for a decade as an avalanche educator and mountain guide. She learned the intricacies of highway forecasting as an intern for the CAIC’s Silverton office, honed her weather forecasting and multi-tasking skills in the CAIC’s Boulder office, and as the backcountry forecaster. She now devotes her energy to keeping the Highway 550 and 145 corridors safe in the wintertime.
Colin grew up in New England, and learned to ski in Vermont and upstate New York. In 1995, he moved to Colorado, and discovered powder skiing, big mountains, and climbing skins. After spending more than a decade working as a ski patroller, avalanche forecaster, ski guide, and avalanche educator, he joined the CAIC in 2014. Avalanche work has taken him to the Himalaya as Snow Safety Officer at Gulmarg Gondola and South America forecasting avalanches for the mining industry. During the Colorado summer, you can find him in Chile enjoying another ski season, and working on his Spanish.
Ben joined the CAIC first as the education coordinator, and later as a forecaster. He spent 12 years as the program director at the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), and served as forecaster and later director at the Crested Butte Avalanche Center. The American Mountain Guide Association recognizes him as a certified ski guide. One of his favorite jobs spanned 18 seasons, forecasting for the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse ski race. Ben lives in Crested Butte where he backcountry skis, snowmobiles, hikes, and mountain bikes with his wife and two children.
Originally from northern Colorado, Kreston developed an early passion for the mountains and skiing. After graduating from CU Boulder, he landed his first professional job as a ski patroller at Beaver Creek. During this time, he was lucky enough to spend a season on patrol exchange in La Plagne, France, before moving on to Big Sky Resort in Montana. He transitioned from ski patrolling to guiding and avalanche education throughout Colorado and Alaska. He spent a few seasons heli-guiding in Haines, AK. Whenever free, he enjoys traveling the world, sailing, and exploring new mountains.
Ron has worked as a ski patroller and avalanche forecaster in Colorado, New Zealand, and Alaska. He has collaborated with scientists from the US and Europe on applied research projects. Ron’s work includes the development of the Extended Column Test and other avalanche forecasting tools. Ron enjoys spending time outside with his wife and two kids.
John became interested in weather and snow growing up in New England anxiously awaiting the next nor’easter. He obtained an M.S. in meteorology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He moved to Colorado in 1984 and worked for fifteen years as a meteorologist for a NOAA applied research program. He completed a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. He ski patrolled at Arapahoe Basin. After forecasting for eight years at CAIC, he is now the Mountain Weather and Avalanche Specialist. His focus is providing computer-generated weather forecasts.
Bo grew up in the snowy finger lake region of central New York. He learned to ski when he was 3 years old but didn’t become an avid skier until high school when he traded in his hockey uniform for his first season pass. He earned a degree in Adventure and Outdoor Education from the University of Utah. In 2013, Bo began working with the Utah Avalanche Center where he oversaw their public outreach and education programs while helping to develop the use of social media as an avalanche information tool.You can also find him riding single track on his bike or trying to master homemade pizza.
Andrea was born in Iowa and raised in the mountains of Colorado where she grew up fostering a love of snow and wild places. With an affection for all things great and small she earned an MS from Colorado State University in Entomology. After working as a biologist throughout the western U.S. she decided to develop her life-long passion of playing in the snow and worked at Aspen Highlands ski patrol for eleven years. There she became involved in rescue, snow science, and avalanche mitigation. She enjoys mountain biking, climbing, and adventuring on high peaks.
Ryan grew up in Kansas and moved to Colorado in 2000 to pursue his graduate studies in biology. After finishing school, he did what any sensible biologist would do and got a job as a ski patroller. He ended up spending over a decade working as a patroller at Eldora Mountain Resort, Arapahoe Basin, and a ski field in New Zealand. He has worked as an avalanche forecaster in Chile, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and on Snoqualmie and Chinook Passes in Washington. Ryan’s other interests include photography, getting lost in the woods, and drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee.