Northwest Avalanche Center
Public SafetyWashington, United States11-50 Employees
The Northwest Avalanche Center (NWAC) is a public-safety nonprofit based in North Bend, Washington. It operates through a collaboration between U.S. Forest Service forecasters and NWAC staff, board and supporters, and is registered as a 501(c)(3). Its mission is to save lives and reduce the impacts of avalanches on recreation, industry and transportation across the Cascade and Olympic Mountains of Washington and northern Oregon, using mountain weather and avalanche forecasting, data collection, and education. NWAC's outreach targets adults and youth who participate in winter backcountry recreation, including backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, backcountry snowboarding and alpine climbing. The organization sits in the public-safety and hazard-education space serving winter outdoor users. It is based in North Bend and operates as a small to mid-sized nonprofit with staff and volunteer leadership. A notable development in recent years is the launch of a purpose-built mobile app, Avy, in late 2023 to provide weather and avalanche information for NWAC and the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.