“Know The Snow!”
That has become the slogan for the Adam Andersen Avalanche Project. It is our mission to promote avalanche awareness throughout the riding community. It is printed in bold letters across our warning signs that have now been installed across Island Park and the Palisades, popular snowmobiling destinations in Idaho.
The Project has had the unique opportunity to work alongside the Caribou-Targhee National Forest Service to help promote our objective. In October, 2018, the Project was able to coordinate with the Island Park Ranger District and put five signs at popular trailheads and in November, 2019, we doubled our efforts to install 10 signs across the Palisades district.
These signs are designed to withstand weather and time and to serve as a constant reminder to riders, both experienced and novice, that they are entering avalanche country. Know the snow, make sure to check avalanche conditions and be prepared with the proper gear.
In small print across the bottom of each sign it reads, “In memory of Adam Andersen.”
Adam Andersen was 36 years old, my husband and father of our three young children, when he went out riding January 10, 2018, in Island Park. Adam and his party were unaware of the avalanche danger that day and did not have any safety gear. His untimely death became my drive and purpose for the Project. I chose to print his name on each sign in hopes it will serve as a small reminder that there are those who fall victim to the backcountry danger that some may think will never happen to them.