FLAME with Brad Hook
Inside Avalanche Rescue: Bombs, Rescue Dogs & Ego-Free Leadership
Caroline Elliott has spent two decades bombing snow slopes in the dark, reading the snowpack and running rescue dogs — work where mistakes are fatal. What she's learned about ego, trust and leadership travels a long way from the mountain.
Before you clip into your skis, people like Caroline have already been on the mountain for hours — controlled explosives, gut calls, decisions made with incomplete information and real consequences. That environment forges a very particular leadership culture: ego-free by necessity, because the snowpack doesn't care about your seniority.
Caroline translates what high-risk rescue work teaches about risk management, psychological safety, bullying and leading under pressure — lessons she now brings into corporate environments. And she tells the moving story of Fjord, her avalanche dog, whose legacy lives on through her children's book and snow-safety education. Adventure on the surface; a masterclass in trust underneath.
In this episode
- What avalanche control actually involves before the lifts open
- Reading the snowpack: judgement with incomplete information
- Why high-risk teams can't afford ego
- Psychological safety lessons that transfer to the office
- Fjord the avalanche dog, and a legacy in snow safety
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