About

Avalanche Risk Solutions - History and Staff

Avalanche Risk Solutions (ARS) combines decades of expertise in avalanche consulting, uniting the teams and experience of David Hamre and Associates, LCC (DHA) with Grom & Co., LLC. With a proven track record across industries such as oil and gas, electric utilities, railways, mining, ski resorts, guiding operations, and residential communities, we provide comprehensive avalanche risk consulting.

Our team has extensive experience working throughout the Western U.S. and Alaska, continuing Dave Hamre’s wide-ranging legacy while integrating Dave “Grom” Richards’s ski area expertise. We are committed to advancing avalanche research and collaborating with industry partners to deepen our understanding of avalanche behavior and forecasting. Building on long-standing relationships and forging new connections, ARS is dedicated to improving safety and resilience in avalanche-prone areas.

Our Partners

Staff

Don Sharaf

Co-owner/Senior Consultant

Avalanche Risk Solutions presents the perfect opportunity for Don to draw on his 35 years as an avalanche professional. Years of glacier mountaineering and backcountry ski guiding led to over 20 years of mechanized ski guiding and operational forecasting. Avalanche… (Read more)

Dave "Grom" Richards

Co-owner/Senior Consultant

Dave has worked in the avalanche and risk mitigation business for 25 years. He has experience working in helicopter skiing, highway mitigation, legal risk management, avalanche education, and as the director of a large ski resort avalanche program for Alta… (Read more)

Dave Hamre

Senior Consultant

Through numerous company name iterations, David Hamre has been an avalanche consultant since his work establishing the Seward Highway Avalanche Program in 1979 under his original company, Alcan Avalanche Services. Avalanche consulting work has ensued in some form since then,… (Read more)

Aleph Johnston-Bloom

Avalanche Consultant

Aleph is based in Girdwood, Alaska. Before joining David Hamre and Associates (now Avalanche Risk Solutions) in 2022, she worked locally forecasting for the powerline and for six seasons as the Lead forecaster for the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center.… (Read more)