Support Independent Snow Science and Research
The Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies (CSAS) is a Colorado 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to the science and research of snow. We’re a small team living in Silverton, CO, operating an alpine study basin with highly instrumented meteorological stations on Red Mountain Pass. We do a statewide tour in the spring assessing snowpack and dust-on-snow conditions on 11 mountain passes, collecting dust-snow-samples and posting reports that help streamflow forecasters and reservoir managers deliver your water. A big part of our operations is novel snow-water research with partner institutions, such as our “Cosmic Ray Neutron Rover as an Emerging Snow Monitoring Technology” project with Colorado State University and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Your support keeps us in the field digging snowpits and reporting the dust-on-snow layers and snow quantity to water managers. Your donation will go towards any of the following:
A little goes a long way at our efficiently run organization; help us continue this important work!
The Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies enhances the interdisciplinary investigation of the alpine snow system's behavior and role in human-environment relationships by conducting research and offering field-based resources – people, information, and facilities – for partner science institutions. We provide high-quality, field-based snow system education resources and support for undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate research. We promote international snow science collaboration and scientific development, and operate long-term snow system study sites in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
Silverton and the surrounding San Juan Mountains have a long history of grappling with snow and its mysteries. Mineral extraction drove the first significant wave of settlement in the San Juans in the latter half of the 19th century, and the challenges of the now-world-famous San Juan snowpack became acutely apparent. Avalanches were relentless and unpredictable, killing settlers by the dozens while working their mines, occupying their homes, and traveling the trails, roads, and railways.
In 1971, a talented group of researchers descended on Silverton for a five-year project known as the "INSTAAR San Juan Project". Originally funded by the government to evaluate the effects of cloud seeding at increasing surface water, the project was ultimately an avalanche study titled "Avalanche Release and Snow Characteristics - San Juan Mountains, Colorado". The preface of the study, by Jack Ives, stated:
"This magnificent mountain area with its stalwart people and their attendant problems of natural hazard assessment, resource development, and land-use policy requirements, is considered as a superb natural laboratory for the enlargement of an important segment of the United States [UNESCO] Man and Biosphere Program. This should be pursued in three forms: basic research, applied research, and in training and education."
At the conclusion of the INSTAAR project, momentum for a snow science institution remained, with two notable individuals - Chris George and Don Bachman – actively pursuing Ives' (and their own) San Juans vision. In 1988 Chris formed CISSAR, the Colorado Institute for Snow Science and Avalanche Research. While serving as the lead forecaster for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center's Silverton Highway 550 program in the early/mid-90's, Don queried a number of universities and research organizations regarding the establishment of a mountain research field station in Silverton. While neither effort 'panned out', directly, CSAS has its roots in their efforts and in the INSTAAR Silverton project.
Building on the visions of Chris, Don, and other Silverton and Durango residents, the Mountain Studies Institute (MSI) was also organized in 2002, with its home base in Silverton and was a contributing factor in the early development of CSAS; each offers the other significant potential synergies. Today, CSAS continues our mission as a national snow system research and education resource that was first perceived by Ives, Bachman, George, and others.
Organization name
Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies
other names
Colorado Dust-on-Snow Program
2003
Tax id (EIN)
04-3737768
Category
Environment
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
1428 Greene Street #103 PO Box 190Headquarters
1428 Greene St, Suite 103Mailing
P.O. Box 190San Juan County, CO, US
Phone
970-387-5080
Fax
970-387-5082
Other
970-231-6595