CSAC Avalanche Center Update

There has been much going on behind the scenes here for a couple months
now, and the coming winter promises to be an exciting one. Much time and
effort was put into seeking sponsorships to help cover project costs, and
we are glad to welcome PolarWrap (home page) and Forty Below (educational
page) to the team. Check out their web sites, and let them know their
support is appreciated.

A couple of things coming up:

1) "Live" reporting from the International Snow Science Workshop

Well, semi-live is more accurate. We'll be posting photos from our digital
camera and RealAudio sound clips from the ISSW in Sunriver Oregon Sept 27
- Oct 1. This is a new effort, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully we will
be able to do more of this during the coming season. Check it out, and
give us some feedback afterwards. ( http://www.avalanche-center.org/live/ )

2) Fundraising Auction to be held Online

We have the cgi scripting in place and a few companies have already
contributed items. More on this about mid-October, but watch for it! It
promises to be lots of fun. In addition to new items we'll be auctioning
any contributed used gear, so consider this. (Contributions are
tax-deductible in the US, and hopefully in Canada soon.)

3) Credit Cards Accepted

We finally have a merchant account and will now accept credit cards in the
online store as well as for contributions and auction purchases. The
account has been granted, it is just a matter of setting up the internet
end.

Visit our site and check out the changes and improvements which will be
taking place as we enter our 1998-99 year, our fifth one.

Jim