Forecasting courses and exercises were instrumental to me in my development during the program for a number of reasons:

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1. Putting together a forecast synthesized all the components of what I had been learning in the rest of the program: weather, snow study, and avalanche science.

2. An understanding of all of the components of a forecast, - for example, avalanche problem types, hazard ratings, and how these metrics are determined - takes time, instruction and practice to develop.

3. Most importantly, we developed a system for approaching a forecast problem, and the ability to present the forecast to specific audiences. What information do we need to make a useful product? Which data are most important and reliable to look at? How confident are we in our forecast?