Resources
Incident Investigations
Systemic Accident Investigations see the contributing factors across individuals, teams, organizations, and external influences to more precisely target the issues that impact performance and risk management.
Guides
Cognition in the Wild's Guide to Learning from Avalanche Incidents (1st Edition)
Papers
Learning from Avalanche Accidents: The Impact of the Wilson Glade Public Accident Debrief
Maguire, Richards, Hardesty, Pagnucco, & Reynolds (2026); International Snow Science Workshop
Investigating Systems, Not People: Learning from Incidents in Mountain Safety Professions
Maguire, Conger, & Reynolds (2026); International Snow Science Workshop
Learning More from Avalanche Incidents: The value of systemic accident investigations
Maguire & Reynolds (2026); The Avalanche Journal: Canadian Avalanche Association (Spring 2026)
Human Performance in Mountain Safety contexts
The following resources focus on human performance that goes beyond motivation and compliance.
These resources are informed by Cognitive Systems Engineering, Systems thinking, human factors, human centered design, Naturalistic Decision Making, and Resilience Engineering - fields that are dedicated to empirical studies on the conditions that shape decision-making.
Videos
Canadian Avalanche Association Virtual Spring Session
Error, Performance, and Staying Safe in avalanche terrain
Northwest Avalanche Center Snow & Avalanche Workshop
Podcasts
The nuances of navigating complex terrian - Utah Avalanche Center Podcast
Posters
Laura Maguire (2026), International Snow Science Workshop 2026
Laura Maguire (2018), NOLS Wilderness Risk Management Conference
Resilience Engineering meets Outdoor Risk Management
Morgan Reynold (2018), NOLS Wilderness Risk Management Conference
Papers
Maguire, Johnston-Bloom & Latosuo (2023)
Decision-making systems in early stage backountry skiers and snowboarders
Ryan Butler (2021)
What Affects Your Decision Making - The Avalanche Review
Laura Maguire (2019)
Eeva Latosuo & Aleph Johnston-Bloom (2019)
Start making sense: Cognitive work in avalanche forecasting
Canadian Avalanche Association blog Maguire & Percival (2019)
Maguire & Percival (2018)
Maguire (2014)
Sites we love
The Avalanche Review archive - Back issues of the American Avalanche Association's magazine which was so expertly edited by Lynn Wolfe for many years. We look forward to Allie Miles bringing her perspective to the publication!
SFU Avalanche Research Program - Despite Pascal Haegli moving on, we are confident the SFU Avalanche Research Program will continue to push the boundaries of innovation and are excited to see where the program goes next.
Drew Hardesty personal blog - Utah Avalanche Center forecaster muses on life in the snowpack
Wayne Flann personal blog - Wayne passed away in 2023 but Whistler maintains the archived site. This was such an impactful blog for many forecasters in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
Stan Nowak personal webpage - Stan has been doing incredibly innovative work in visualizations for avalanche professionals. His work supports recognizing and making sense of uncertainty.
The Avalanche Hour podcast - Caleb Merril and his team have done an incredible job capturing the voices of the avalanche community. Support their work by making a donation!
KBYG - Know Before You Go - has been bringing innovative programming promoting public avalanche safety education and awareness since 2004.
The Responder Alliance - Provides important psychological first aid for traumatic mountain incidents.