QUALIFIED AVALANCHE PROFESSIONALS
Storm Mountain has built a practising professional team of Qualified Avalanche Professionals who have gained tremendous knowledge and experience, and honed their skills working on the largest avalanche programs in Canada, both private sector and government. These avalanche programs are administered seven to ten months of the year and are located in diverse project settings and environments. A key component to Storm Mountain’s strength and success, is their ability to accurately predict avalanche release in several different geo-climatic regions throughout Western Canada. This requires an intimate knowledge base of weather and snowpack relationships and many years of experience forecasting avalanche hazard in each region. The Storm Mtn Team are lead by Greg McAuley and Mark Austin.
Greg McAuley is Founder, President and CEO, and one of the Senior Avalanche Specialist for Storm Mtn. Greg’s geology education and extensive avalanche background, along with previous mountain guide training, education and certification, have provided him with a solid foundation for snow avalanche risk management over the past 30 years. Greg and his team of qualified avalanche professionals have developed, implemented and administered some of Canada’s largest private sector avalanche programs. Greg’s strengths lie in his extensive experience and ability to forecast avalanche hazard, manage risk and provide risk assessments and project manage large industrial avalanche programs in several geo-climatic regions throughout the world. Greg has performed more than 420 heli-bombing missions for his industry clients. His understanding of the different geo-climatic snowpacks provides insight into the most effective avalanche control measure maximizing Storm Mtn’s efficiencies and reducing his clients down time, which equates to valuable economics.
Mark Austin is the Operations Manager and one of of our Senior Avalanche Specialists. Mark brings thirty years of snow avalanche hazard management experience to our forecasting team and operations. He is a Senior Avalanche Specialist and Operations Manager for Storm Mountain, assisting Greg in project Management and oversight. His responsibilities include avalanche forecasting, avalanche training, safety planning, avalanche hazard mitigation, and liaising with the Storm Mountain Team, clients, and government agencies associated with all avalanche Sub-Divisions. Mark’s strengths lie in his experience and ability to forecast avalanche hazard in several different geo-climatic zones throughout British Columbia and manage large industrial avalanche programs. He is a recipient of the 2007 Deputy Ministers Award for Public Safety with the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Highways.