Ski Resort Introduces Absolutely Adorable New Avalanche Puppy
Avalanche dogs are a vital component of the ski patrol safety arsenal. But they're obviously more than tools for avalanche rescue -- they're also adorable balls of fur. And every dog, no matter the age, started as a puppy.
This puppy named Hambone, or Hammy for short, just traveled from Alta, Utah, to join Silver Mountain Resort, Idaho's avy dog squad. While I'm sure he'll be getting trained up on sniffing out buried skiers soon, for now, his only job is being heart-meltingly cute.
Hammy gets his name from Hamilton Strayer, a former Alta patroller. Silver Mountain's patrol team chose the name Hammy to honor the involvement of Alta's ski patrollers in getting their dog program up and running.
Avalanche dogs at Silver Mountain and other resorts are tasked with uncovering buried skiers. They're particularly beneficial if a skier is lost inside or near a resort because resort skiers typically don't wear life-saving avalanche beacons.
The average avalanche dog can search in a 2.5-acre area in about 30 minutes, which would take a human search team much longer if the buried victim isn't wearing a beacon.
All this talk of avalanche dogs makes me wish I had a job that involved working alongside a four-legged friend. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone's figured out how to train a dog to be a writing assistant yet.
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