Snow nomad
July 28th, 2022
Born in Malta to a British family, the son of a Royal Navy officer, Alan Dennis didn’t plan a career in the field of avalanche safety, he fell into it by chance. Snow Nomad: An Avalanche Memoir (FriesenPress $25.99) chronicles the fifty seasons Dennis worked in the “avalanche patch,” travelling between Canada, Alaska, New Zealand, Scotland and Argentina. He went to ski resorts, mining areas, film sets and beyond, whether in Canada’s remote reaches, scrambling up a summit in the Scottish Highlands or bunking at a mining camp in Argentina’s Andes. Dennis shares how avalanche work has changed over the last 40-50 years, from almost 80% intuition to a greater use of analytical skills; but always, “a lot of luck.” The book focuses on Dennis’ personal stories rather than technical detail and includes photographs he took while on the job. A testimonial blurb on the book’s jacket from Bruce Jamieson, avalanche researcher and professor emeritus at the University of Calgary, states: “Alan Dennis is not the only maverick working with avalanches, but he may be the only one to have forecast avalanches for 50 winters on four continents. This is a wonderful, quirky romp through his amazing career with avalanches, people and tales that should not be forgotten.” Alan Dennis is retired and lives in Revelstoke. 9781039107984
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