Snowball Update

The inaugural Snowball Dinner and Auction to support the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center is less than a month away...Friday, April 10!  Tables are filling up but we have not sold out yet.  I hope you will all come out and show your support for a service we all rely on to plan trips and stay safe in the mountains.  NWAC's budget is extremely threatened next year with a projected shortfall of over $100,000 right now.  Your support is more important now than ever.  And besides, what better way to spend a Fri evening than sharing stories with 200+ other skiers and riders, enjoying a good dinner and going home with a selection of over 100 great auction items.  Hope to see you all there.  Buy your ticket before it's too late...we have to plan dinners, so we won't be selling tickets at the door!

More info and tickets here .

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Will be there! We should all be stepping it up to support this cause. We all use the forecasts and mountain weather so we gotta support the cause to keep the Center going into the future!

I'm with you Alex, I understand the funding situation for 2009-2010 is even worse than most years (not surprising given the state fiscal crisis).

I use the weather and avy forecast (and Amar's great code to give us all the weather station data here on TAY) all the time before heading out. A worthy cause - and the auction will have some great stuff, including trips and gear. Would be great to have a table or 2 of TAYers!

We all use the NWAC (Northwest Avalanche Center) forecast to help us make decisions about where to ski and when. We all rely on their forecasts to give us a good idea of when and where it is safe to ski and climb. NWAC is a government entity, funded by the DOT, Forest Service, State Parks, NPS, ski areas and the Federal Government, and as such, they are extremely vulnerable to fluctuations in the state budget.

That is where the Friends of the NW Avalanche center (FOAC) come in, the Friends raise funds and keeps NWAC open when the other agencies come up short. Since, as a government agency, NWAC cannot raise their own money (the Pentagon cant have a bake sale), so FOAC (aka The Friends) does that for them. In addition FOAC has a dedicated education arm and is active in lobbying for the continued support of the NW avalanche center.

As it currently stands, NWAC is looking at a $100,000 shortfall. If those funds are not found, we run a real risk of not having the Northwest Avalanche center putting out bulletins like we are used to. In fact, there is a risk that it could not open for business next year 2009-2010. WE DONT WANT THAT!!!!!


On Friday April 10th, FOAC having a dinner auction, we are calling it Snowball, at the Ballard Elks. There will be both a silent and live auction with some pretty cool items and good food and beverage to be enjoyed among friends

It will be a good send off for the season and a good time, in support of a cause that we all use and need. It is of paramount importance in light of the bad avalanches that we have had this year and the looming state budget deficit of $3 Billion.

As a member of the Board, I will be personally inviting my ski buddies here on TAY and would love to get together a couple of TAY tables. It will be a good time, and a cause that we all use! Hope to see you there!!!!

Thanks to all those who have bought tickets!  We are getting close to capacity but still have some room.  If any of you need additional enticement, here is the preliminary list of auction items .

Holey Moley! That's a lot of stuff!