Instructors
TED STEINER
Ted has been professionally employed in the avalanche safety arena since the mid-1980s. Over the years he’s worked as a ski patroller, forecaster, and educator.
Currently, Ted is employed as an avalanche safety specialist with Dave Hamre and Associates LLC with work focused on industrial-based risk management.
Ted also volunteers with the Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center, instructs avalanche safety courses with The Patrol Fund, and is a Lifetime Professional Member of the American Avalanche Association.
Erich Peitzsch
Erich is a Research Physical Scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in West Glacier, MT. He studies avalanches and snow, specifically wet snow avalanches, using drones for snow and avalanche research, and using tree rings to investigate avalanche patterns through time. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. from the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University. He worked as a ski patroller at Alpine Meadows Ski Area in Lake Tahoe, as the Director of the Flathead Avalanche Center, and currently oversees the Going-to-the-Sun Road Avalanche Program in Glacier National Park. When not studying snow, he spends time in the mountains and traveling with his family.
Jenny Cloutier
Born and raised in the Flathead Valley, Jenny enjoys instructing ecology, outdoor medicine, mental health, and avalanche education courses. Jenny has followed her passion for snow and education through working as a patroller at Whitefish Mountain Resort, teaching in the Flathead National Forest’s winter safety and avalanche program, writing and instructing courses for Western Washington University students, and leading Patrol Fund and Flathead Avalanche educational programming. She holds an Avalanche Professional Level 1 and a Masters of Environmental Education and is incredibly thankful for any day spent teaching or playing in the snow.
Lloyd Morsett
Lloyd is a transplant to the Flathead Valley after spending a couple of decades working and playing in the scariest snowpack on the planet. Lloyd has been a professional ski patroller, avalanche dog handler, and educator since the 1900s. He is also a professional member of the American Avalanche Association and a founding board member of Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center. Although Avalanche Rescue and ski touring remain his true loves, Lloyd has recently been seen holding handlebars with a 150 horse power brap machine.
Zach Miller
Zach was plugged into the snow sciences while in college digging pits on the always windy Niwot Ridge in Colorado and has been working professionally in the snow and avalanche world ever since. He currently works as a Physical Scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in West Glacier, MT studying snow depth spatial variability, remote sensing, and mountain weather. His background includes ski patrolling at Solitude in Utah, avalanche forecasting for the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, and recently completing a M.S. from Montana State University's Earth Sciences Department. You may find him riding bikes or hiking with his wife and dog when not digging holes in the snow.
Teal Gayner
Teal was born and raised in Whitefish where she enjoys skiing, rafting, sailing, and camping with her friends and family. She studied Geosciences at The University of Montana and works locally as a Geologist in the geotechnical engineering field. She found a love for snow science as she worked for 5 years on ski patrol at Whitefish Mountain Resort and has helped run The Patrol Fund and avalanche education courses since. She has a passion for educating and providing learning opportunities to our community.
Jamie Burkholder
Jamie developed a love for winter and snow sports at an early age in his home state of Vermont. After a brief stint in the "real" world, he began down the path of seasonal employment. In the late 2000's he began working as a professional ski patroller in Vermont, then off to Utah and now Montana. The love of all things winter continues as he helps guide his daughters through their early years. In the last couple of years, he began formally instructing in the avalanche education world and looks forward to many more years of traveling in the mountains.
TIM shaw
Tim Shaw is on our board as our education coordinator. Tim is the branch director of The Mountain Guides Montana and a Ski Patroller at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Tim has his Masters in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University and is an avid backcountry skier.
Morgan Goetting
Morgan Goetting moved to whitefish in 97/98 for the winter, to spend some time in the snow before moving on and getting “A Real Job”. Whitefish has been home ever since. Morgan Is a Professional Ski Patroller at Whitefish Mountain Resort during the winter months and has a landscape gardening business the rest of the year. Morgan still enjoys spending time in the mountains be it snow or dirt.
Zach Armstrong
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KoDY
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Camron Johnson
Cam has dedicated his professional life to education and avalanches. He has spent the last 8 years working as a ski patroller and 3 years as the Avalanche Mitigation Technician at Solitude Mountain Resort. Here he spent his days overseeing their complicated avalanche terrain, as well as mentoring patrollers on avalanche rescue, snow science, and applying the best mitigation strategy for the current condition. During his off-seasons Cam led mountaineering courses for the Northwest Outward Bound School in Washington. When he isn’t on the snow he can be found teaching wilderness medicine courses, building houses, or floating a river on his packraft.