Interagency Collaboration Between Grand Teton National Park and Bridger Teton Avalanche Center Continues for Seventh Year with Park Forecaster Travis Baldwin

14_Aaron Diamond

This winter marks the seventh year of Grand Teton National Park’s partnership with the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center (BTAC). With funding from Grand Teton National Park Foundation, the park collaborates with BTAC to expand the resources available to backcountry skiers and riders—providing more information to help users make educated decisions.

Travis Baldwin is Grand Teton’s meteorological technician, and he functions as an avalanche forecaster. This is the seventh year the Foundation has funded the position and Travis’ second season in the role. He is embedded within the BTAC forecasting team and adds park-specific snowpack observations and insights to the raw data collected by Grand Teton’s snow and wind sensors. Prior to this interagency partnership, there was limited information collected from the park that was formally included in BTAC’s forecasting.

Travis has two decades of experience working with the National Park Service (NPS). From renewing backcountry trails in Yellowstone to rescuing climbers on Denali, to now working as an avalanche forecaster in Grand Teton, his skills and expertise are impressive. We recently caught up with Travis to learn more about him and his role in Grand Teton National Park.

Travis poses for a portrait with the Teton mountain range in the background.
Travis poses for a portrait with the Teton mountain range in the background.

Tell us about yourself—where you grew up, where you went to school, your professional experience, and how you landed in the Tetons.
I grew up in Charlotte, Vermont, a small town near Burlington. My parents introduced me to skiing and climbing growing up but I really didn’t pursue it until later in life. After high school, I attended the University of Wyoming, earning a mechanical engineering degree. During college, I worked on backcountry trail crews in Yellowstone for the NPS. After graduating, I briefly pursued engineering but returned to Yellowstone for six seasons (2004–2009).

I met my wife, Rebecca, in Laramie. She went to medical school, and we moved to Golden, CO, for her residency while I worked at Rocky Mountain National Park running trail crews for four seasons. After Rocky, I worked at North Cascades National Park as a climbing ranger (2013–2015). We moved to Anchorage, AK in 2014, where Rebecca had landed a job at one of the hospitals in town. I guided on Denali for a year before becoming a seasonal climbing ranger for Denali National Park in 2017, a role I continue today.

Parallel to my NPS career, I began mountain guiding, spending the last eight summers with Exum Mountain Guides after the Denali climbing season ends. While Alaska is a tremendous place, Rebecca and I both always felt the pull back to Wyoming where she grew up and where we both went to school. In 2023, after nearly a decade in Alaska, we moved to Jackson, and I began this position last winter.

Why did you apply for the meteorological technician position in Grand Teton?                                                                               Northwestern Wyoming is an amazing place, and this position allows me to enjoy it and continue working with the NPS. It combines the challenges of avalanche forecasting, technical work with weather stations, and rescue operations with the Jenny Lake Rangers—aspects of mountain work that I enjoy. Plus, I get to spend lots of time on skis exploring the mountains.

What does your average day look like on the job?
Twice a week, I handle forecasting, starting at 4:30 AM to review observations, weather data, and telemetry before publishing the avalanche forecast by 7 AM. The rest of those days involve fieldwork like collecting observations, digging snow pits, or maintaining weather stations. Non-forecasting days allow for longer field days, skiing or snowmobiling across the four forecast areas: Teton Range, Snake River Range, Wyoming/Salt River Range, and Togwotee Pass. Most days wrap up with some guitar playing—after work of course.

Spending time in the field to look at recent avalanche events and instabilities in the snowpack is an essential part of Travis' job.
Spending time in the field to look at recent avalanche events and instabilities in the snowpack is an essential part of Travis' job.

What is your favorite part of the job? Most challenging part?
I enjoy exploring the forecast zones with different people, including other forecasters, friends, and volunteers. The most challenging part is understanding the nuanced snowpacks across each zone and effectively communicating the avalanche risk to the public.

Why is it important for the park to collaborate with BTAC through your position and the weather stations?
Grand Teton National Park’s mission includes providing recreational opportunities for visitors, and, in the winter, recreating and moving through these mountains is a magical experience, but it is not without hazards. The BTAC informs backcountry users about current conditions and the avalanche hazard. Avalanches occur on both NPS and US Forest Service lands, so interagency collaboration ensures effective safety messaging. GTNP and BTAC share resources, like weather stations and personnel, to produce accurate forecasts. Our current partnership contributes to the region's avalanche safety.

With a few months left in the season, what are you looking forward to for the remainder of the winter?
I look forward to forecasting—analyzing weather, predicting snow behavior, and verifying in the field. The Tetons’ terrain and storm patterns add unique challenges, making this problem-solving process both engaging and rewarding—especially when it’s done on skis!

The forecasting team investigates a recent avalanche.
The forecasting team investigates a recent avalanche.

As this interagency partnership continues to grow, BTAC is better supported in their operations. BTAC only employs three seasonal forecasters. With the addition of the park meteorological technician, Grand Teton is providing one quarter of the center’s winter seasonal staff. The Foundation is pleased to support this effort and continue advancing the program to increase avalanche awareness and backcountry safety in Grand Teton National Park and throughout the region.

Visit BTAC’s website to find the daily forecast and current observations. Contact the Foundation at 307-732-0629 to learn more and support this effort today. Thank you!

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