Backcountry.com comes to Utah Avalanche Centre’s rescue
The Salt Lake City-based Utah Avalanche Centre (UAC) was ready to wrap up its’ operations for the season in the early days of April due to the lack of funds. However, according to the
latest development, it will keep on working till the 24th of this month after getting a much-needed donation from the Backcountry.com, a Utah-based online outdoor retailer that specialises in high-end outdoor recreation gear for various snowboarding,
skiing, trekking, etc.
The UAC was facing a funds-deficit due to relatively higher snowfall this season. This had consequently led to an increase in costs and a significant reduction in funding. There just was
not enough money to bear the costs of conducting the operations. It was eventually decided to shut the doors of the Centre a little early this year.
When there was no apparent solution to the funding problem, it was a phone call from Backcountry.com that came to the rescue. They inquired from the centre about the cost of keeping the
centre open for a few more weeks. The director of the Utah Avalanche Centre, Bruce Tremper, informed them that it would be US$6,300. The online retailer agreed to help the centre in taking care of the cost to ensure continued running of the operation.
“There's too much snow in the Wasatch and there are too many people still in the backcountry. We need the UAC,” said Dustin Roberston, chief marketing officer at Backcountry.com.
Backcountry.com made the donation of US$6,300 to the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Centre (FUAC), a non-profit organization working to support and fund UAC, this week. This will help UAC
to comfortably carry out its task till 24 April.
Safety and knowledge are the most vital things when spending time in the backcountry. There is a permanent threat of avalanches taking place there. Even though one cannot stop those avalanches
from happening, one can at least make an effort to reduce the damage and lives of unsuspected adventurers and athletes claimed by it.
It is for this reason that UAC has come into existence. It is dedicated to forecast avalanche warning, safety and education so that Utah’s backcountry can be enjoyed without getting caught
up in any accident.
“When we do have an avalanche warning in effect and we're calling it high or extreme danger, you don't see anybody out in the backcountry and the number of accidents goes down,” Tremper
said. “So we know that people are listening to our forecasts.”
The U.S Forest Service, the State of Utah and Salt Lake County partially pay for the UAC operations. The rest of the funding is done by the FUAC, with the help of other donators.
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