We made a $5,000 grant this week to the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies (CSAS)  in Silverton, CO. CSAS’s mission is to foster the interdisciplinary investigation of the alpine snow system’s behavior and role in human/environment relationships by offering resources - people, information, and facilities -for field-based research and education.

The grant will go specifically towards their Mountain System Monitoring Program, located in the Senator Beck Wilderness area.  This program investigates particular aspects of snow-driven mountain system behaviors, for example, research into the affects of desert dust on mountain snow packs, soils, and hydrology.  They already have five years of rich data, which is used by scientists worldwide to gauge the effects of climate change over time.  K-12 schools have also begun using the data as a vehicle for teaching about mountain weather and climatology.

We’re stoked to be supporting CSAS, who are literally on the front lines helping us all determine the effects of climate change on our snow and outline steps on how best we can reverse it.  Visit their site here.