Avalanche Class Scholarships

We are proud to offer aspiring backcountry enthusiasts the chance to bolster their knowledge in avalanche awareness and safe winter travel. By honoring legacies and promoting education, these scholarships empower recipients to explore winter landscapes responsibly and confidently. Scholarships are open to all youth in our local forecasting area with parental consent.

Doug Abromeit Avalanche Scholarship – 10th Annual

Every year for the past 10 years, the Friends of the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center celebrates the work and life of Doug Abromeit (1948-2013) by starting the winter season with the Doug Abromeit Avalanche Scholarship.  Doug was a native of Sandpoint, Idaho. The scholarship is intended to further avalanche education and awareness for those in our forecast region of North Idaho, Eastern Washington, and Western Montana.

What:  The Scholarship will provide one recipient admission to a Level 1 Avalanche Course conducted by the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center.

Who:  Those interested in backcountry skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, mountaineering, or snowshoeing are the intended groups.  Applicants must be between the ages of 14 and 24.

How:  To apply, write an essay no longer than 400 words explaining why you should be selected to attend the Level 1 Avalanche Course and how you will use this education to promote avalanche awareness.

When:  2024 entries have closed. Essays must be submitted by December 6, 2024. Please include your name, age, mailing address and a phone number.  Hardcopy essays can be mailed to:

Sandpoint Ranger District
Attn: Kevin Davis
1602 Ontario St.
Sandpoint, ID. 83864

Electronic versions, pdf or doc files please, can be emailed to kevin.davis2@usda.gov.  The Scholarship winner will be announced mid-December. Winners will attend the Level 1 Avalanche Course in 2025.  Dependents under the age of 18 will need written parental consent to attend.

To Donate:  To donate to the Doug Abromeit Avalanche Scholarship make checks payable to the Friends of the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center (FIPAC), note that funds are for Abromeit Scholarship.  Mail checks to:

Friends of IPAC
PO Box 405
Ponderay, ID. 83852

Congratulations to Mason Addison, winner of the 2024-25 Abromeit Avalanche Scholarship. Mason will attend an IPAC Level 1 avalanche class this winter. Way to go Mason!

Watch: Doug Abromeit Scholarship

Doug Abromeit (1948-2013)

Doug managed to land one of the best, and most revered jobs the U.S. Forest Service had to offer when he became a Snow Ranger at Alta in the mid 1980’s.

He had gotten the job even though he was an outsider, with unknown or at best limited experience in the avalanche world. It wasn’t going to be easy, stepping into his new role, as the rather hard-core local avalanche community did not always readily accept outsiders. This somewhat xenophobic behavior was demonstrated on his first day at work, when his new boss, the legendary Binx Sandahl, said to him, “Keep your mouth shut, and your eyes and ears open, and you just might survive”. 

Doug did survive, and was quickly accepted by the locals. During his time in Little Cottonwood Canyon, he came to be regarded above all, as a “Good-guy”, someone who was willing to do whatever was needed, and who could work with just about anyone, in order to get the job done.

Also, because of his pleasant demeanor and “like-ability”, no one seemed willing to condemn him too harshly, or remain angry with him for very long, even when it was obvious he had screwed-up. Because of that, he was given the nickname of “The Teflon Snow Ranger”. It seemed to fit.

Doug was someone you wanted to work with, someone whose team you wanted to be on. He seemed to have remarkably good insight when it came to understanding people, and how to get them to work together. He was someone who knew how to listen, and was fair-minded and empathetic. These innate skills made him a natural leader, and contributed in no small part I’m sure, to his success.

A month or so after his arrival in Alta, there was a rather significant winter storm and avalanche cycle, with a number of large avalanches, some of which came close to hitting buildings, and others that crossed the canyon road while it was open, one of which had hit two cars. After the storm was over and things had settled down, I remember him saying that he now understood that Little Cottonwood Canyon was no ordinary place to work, and that his new job was one where mistakes or errors of judgment could have dire consequences. I imagine his previous experience as a Smoke Jumper helped prepare him to deal with all that.  

Notable accomplishments; USFS Snow Ranger, Alta, Utah. USFS Snow Ranger, Ketchum, Idaho. Director, Sawtooth Avalanche Center. Director, USFS National Avalanche Center. Chairman, Avalanche Artillery Users of North America Committee  (AAUNAC).  

And perhaps the most notable of all; considered by nearly everyone to be a truly nice person.

– Liam FitzGerald

Doug had a huge and generous personality. He liked to have fun and was in some ways an open book. So much so, that it was hard to know if he was testing you, using himself as the brunt of a joke, or both.

My favorite memory of Doug is the very cold day I found him walking down the street wet to the skin, carrying skis, with the butt of his pants torn out. Turns out he skied the little mountain above our neighborhood, got trundled through some rocks at the bottom, then fell off a log trying to cross the river on the way home. The whole shenanigan didn’t faze him a bit … I think he enjoyed telling me the story as much as I enjoyed hearing it. 

This magic, and self-effacing humor was much of the reason he was so good at getting people to the table and helping them to work together. 

– Simon Trautman
Director, USDA FS National Avalanche Center

 

“Doug was one of the most inclusive people I have known.  It didn’t matter what the situation was, who you were, or how important your credentials, Doug treated everyone with respect.  He was also very hard to keep up with on a powder day”.

– Janet Kellam
Sawtooth Avalanche Center

Abromeit Avalanche Scholarship Recipients

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