Brett Kobernick Knows It in His Bones: Nobody is Immune from Getting Killed in an Avalanche

About this episode

Brett Kobernick discusses his innovations in snow sports and the realities of avalanche safety.

Brett Kobernick's nickname may be "Kowboy," but he's actually something of a Leonardo da Vinci of the snow. A garage tinkerer who builds the tools he needs to better understand winter conditions, he's also an early adopter of the snow bike, and he helped invent the split-board. True story. Kowboy joins us to talk about all of that, as well as the science, the excitement, and the tragedy of avalanches. As he says, the hardest part of the job isn't forecasting for a PWL on the mend, although that is very difficult. No, the hardest part is talking to the survivors or family members of the victim of a deadly avalanche.

People in this episode

Guest: Brett Kobernick

Topics covered

• avalanches
• winter sports
• snow science
• safety
• survivor stories

Keywords

• avalanches
• Brett Kobernick
• snow bike
• split-board
• avalanche safety
• winter conditions
• survivors

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Utah Avalanche Center

Books & works: split-board, snow bike

More episodes of Utah Avalanche Center Podcast

• How Healthy Is Utah's Backcountry Culture? · April 4, 2026 · 44 min
• Finding the Goldilocks Zone for Uncertainty in the Avalanche Forecast · February 10, 2026 · 1h 1m
• AI, Machine Learning, and the Value of Expert Intuition at the Utah Avalanche Center · January 21, 2026 · 51 min
• Bill Glude Wants You to Ride Hard and Die Old · December 23, 2025 · 1h 1m
• Bill Glude Wants You to Ride Hard and Die Old · December 23, 2025 · 1h 1m
• An Oral History of the Friends Who Keep the UAC Humming · April 24, 2025 · 1h 32m