10 Years On: The Telluride Backcountry Radio Program

When reaching out to the Telluride Mountain Club to discuss their Telluride Backcountry Radio Program we were put in touch with Matt Steen. During the 2014-2015 season, Steen motivated and helped energize a nascent backcountry community channel program. That program mapped out five backcountry zones, with six channels designated to serve five zones. Since that time, the program has expanded to include nine zones (each with its own main channel/sub-channel).

If you are new to radio use and community channels, in general, it’s not too complicated. The primary purpose of community channels is to facilitate inter-group communication. In potentially crowded terrain posing avalanche risks, participants can listen in on group transmissions and participate in group transmissions. About to drop in on a run—you could call into the group channel and notify anyone in the zone of your intentions. (Steen and Bruce Edgerly authored a paper in 2016 discussing the nascent use of community channels. You can read that here.)

Other communities have adopted similar programs since Telluride’s inception. Lake Tahoe will be the latest community to adopt a community channel program this winter. (We’ll have more on that in a week or so.) Programs in the Wasatch and Snoqualmie Pass have been around for a few years.