The Center for Snow & Avalanche Studies serves the mountain science community and regional resource managers by hosting & conducting interdisciplinary research and conducting integrative 24/7/365 monitoring that captures weather, snowpack, radiation, soils, plant community and hydrologic signals of regional climate trends.
Become a Friend of CSAS:
Schmidt BuildingAfter several years of discussion, in 2008 the CSAS and the Schmidt family, of Silverton, collaboratively developed a lease and purchase strategy that both parties hoped would enable the CSAS to occupy and ultimately acquire the Schmidt’s near-new 4,400 square foot timber frame building on 12th Street, adjoining the narrow gauge railroad tracks where they enter “downtown” Silverton. The CSAS had recognized the attributes of this particular building many years earlier and the facility immediately proved its capabilities in meeting our needs, providing heated and lighted shop space for instrumentation projects such as the Marshall photovoltaic array (as compared to the unheated, unlighted, 10’ x 10’ storage unit we previously rented), classroom spaces for small and larger groups, ample office space (as compared to our 10’ x 10’ office in the Miners Hospital), a library space, dry and clean storage spaces for gear, materials, and supplies, and living quarters for CSAS staff. Unfortunately, the timing of this opportunity could not have been worse, given the subsequent severe national recession, and the CSAS’s board of directors determined in early summer 2009 that it was necessary to withdraw from the Schmidt’s facility and relocate to a smaller facility in Silverton, thus assuring our survival under the extremely difficult funding climate experienced by non-profit organizations throughout the country. While our tenure there was fleeting, we retain fond memories of the building and our activities and guests there.
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Pre-assembling the solar panels for Dr. Hans-Peter Marshall’s Swamp Angel Study Plot array. |
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During the CSAS’s community Open House, January 29, 2009 – photo courtesy of Karen Hoskin. |
Dr. Christine Pielmeier, of the Swiss’s WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, in Davos, discussing her work with Silverton residents during our Open House – photo courtesy of Karen Hoskin. |
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Hans-Peter Marshall gearing up for his Senator Beck Basin field campaign in January, 2009. |
Denny Hogan, local US Forest Service Snow Ranger, discusses ski area avalanche hazard management with a class from Minnesota State University – Mankato in the Schmidt facility during their field camp in Silverton, hosted by the CSAS. |