Leland (Lee) R. Dexter, Ph.D.
Lee has been interested in avalanches since the early 1970s when he took his first avalanche course here in Silverton. Lee has been a mountain shop owner/operator, a RMSIA certified Nordic ski instructor and mountain ski guide, and an avalanche forecaster for the CAIC. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in 1986 and has been a university professor ever since. He currently teaches Snow and Ice, Weather and Climate, and GIS courses at Northern Arizona University.

Keith Roush
Keith Roush attended Montana State University in Bozeman 1967-1970, studying electrical engineering, film production and snow.  Working in the mountaineering and ski business since 1971, he has climbed, skied and guided on three continents.  He worked with Royal Robbins guiding in the San Juans since 1976 and developed the first Telemark ski boots with Galibier in France. 

Moving to Durango in 1983, he has continued to ski the San Juan backcountry up to 90 days a year.  Since 2002 he has been the proprietor of Pine Needle Mountaineering in Durango.  He was President of the Board of the Western Winter Sports Representatives Association, board member of the San Juan Mountains Association, Silverton Avalanche School instructor since 1984 and member of the La Plata County Search & Rescue Management Team since 1983.  He is presently a board member for the Center for Snow and Avalanche Science in Silverton. 

He also maintains a house in Silverton and skis and hikes every chance he gets in the San Juans, while still sticking his head into the snow on a regular basis.

Betsy Armstrong
Betsy Armstrong was a researcher with the University of Colorado INSTAAR San Juan Avalanche Project, Silverton (winters) and the University of Washington Blue Glacier Project, Olympus National Park (summers) in the 1970s and ‘80s. In the early 1980s, she was an avalanche forecaster with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, USFS and State of Colorado, and has instructed at the Silverton Avalanche School, American Avalanche Institute, National Avalanche School, and Babes in the Backcountry courses. She has authored and co-authored numerous scientific and popular publications, including The Avalanche Book and the video Avalanche Awareness: A Question of Balance. She has been a contributor to The Avalanche Review and is a founding member of American Avalanche Association. She was the director of publications at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, COO and director of business development at the Women of the West Museum, and has been involved in all aspects of book publishing since the mid-1980s. Presently, she is a publishing consultant with a specialty in glaciological topics.

Chuck Rose
We have been very fortunate to have Chuck as one of our instructors for many years, unmatched by few.  He brings to us and to you an abundance of knowledge and experience.  Chuck has spent his entire adult life skiing professionally.  His experience includes 28 seasons as a ski patroller and 8 seasons as a Heli guide.

Chris Landry
Chris began his lifetime of snow experience with skiing at the age of four at Big Mountain, Montana.  High school and college ski racing eventually gave way to ski mountaineering and a few pioneering ski descents in North America.  Along the way, Chris pursued formal private instruction in avalanche safety from, and then began instructing for, the American Avalanche Institute, published the Snow Journal workbook for backcountry skiers and guides, and practiced as a private avalanche consultant/forecaster.  In 2002, Chris earned a MSc in the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT, where he researched the spatial variability of snow stability on uniform slopes.  Chris is currently the Executive Director of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies here in Silverton and is conducting research funded by the National Science Foundation regarding the effects of desert dust depositions on alpine snowpacks and hydrology.  Through this same funding, Chris is also hosting a sub-nivean biogeochemical research project, and is operating an extensive network of instrumentation on Red Mountain Pass.  Chris has instructed for Silverton Avalanche School Level II courses since arriving in Silverton in the winter of 2002-2003.

Peter Shelton
Peter comes to avalanche study from the direction of ski school, ski writing, and recreational backcountry skiing.  He taught skiing from 1972 to 1980 in California and Colorado, and was director of the ski school at Telluride.  He has written for SKI, Skiing, Powder, Outside, Mountain Gazette, and Backcountry, among others.  Ski writing has taken him to the Alps, Himalayas, and Andes as well as the Rockies, Sierras, Cascades, Chugach, interior B.C., and Appalachian Ranges.  Peter took his first avalanche course in Silverton in 1981 and has been looking at (and ski-testing) snow in the western San Juans for 30 years.

Craig Sterbenz
Craig, known by many as “Sterbie”, has 35 of professional experience working, and playing, in avalanche terrain. He is currently the Snow Safety Director for Telluride Ski Resort, where he has been on the Ski Patrol since the mid-1970’s.  More than 25 years of forecasting and control work in the San Juan Mountains has given Craig a good look at depth hoar.  His experience also includes climbing in the Cascades and working in the field from the Sierra’s to the Selkirk’s and from Anchorage to Alta.  He has authored a number of papers for the International Snow Science Workshop and the Avalanche Review as well as serving on the working group which authored “Snow, Weather and Avalanche Observational Guidelines” for the American Avalanche Association.  He worked as a consultant for the snow safety plan development at the new Silverton Ski Area and for the USFS on Telluride’s recent expansion.  He attended the Silverton Avalanche School in 1975 and later joined the staff with the offering of the first Level II course.  Craig is a co-founder and former Director of the Telluride Avalanche School and has also worked as an instructor for the Northwest Avalanche Institute, the American Avalanche Institute/Snowise, and the National Avalanche School.  Craig is the Chair of “Standards Awareness” for the American Avalanche Association as well as the Chair for ISSW, 2006 in Telluride.  He received a BS degree from University of California, San Diego in 1970.

Richard Armstrong
Richard is returning to the Silverton Avalanche School after a several years’ hiatus.  He brings an extensive array of experience in weather, avalanche and snow science.  During the winters of 1971-1987 Richard served as Director of the INSTAAR San Juan Avalanche Project through the University of Colorado.  During the summers he served as the Field Project Manager with the Blue Glacier Project in the Olympic Mountains, sponsored by the University of Washington.
          
From 1980-1984, Richard worked with the United States Forest Service at the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station in Fort Collins, CO.  There he was responsible for evaluating mountain weather and avalanche forecasting. And, From 1985- present, Richard has served as the Senior Research Scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) through the University of Colorado at Boulder.
          
Richard's areas of specialization include satellite remote sensing of seasonal snow cover, glaciers and  frozen ground, response of snow cover and glaciers to climate trends, physical properties of snow, education, and outreach.