Claudio Artoni

Claudio Artoni lives in Milan, Italy. He’s a PhD student in Polar Science at the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, a professional snowpack observer, avalanche educator, and climbing instructor.

He’s passionate about snow, ice, geology, climbing, skiing, hiking, sailing, and everything concerning the mountains and environment. For his PhD project he is studying the optical properties of dust and crystals in snow and ice cores, working on sites in Svalbard, Antarctica and Alps.

Claudio began cross-country skiing when he was young and has always been interested in the snow. Once he started to learn about backcountry skiing, he attended some basic courses like AIARE 1 and 2. He became a professional snowpack observer and avalanche educator in 2018, and is now a member of the American Avalanche Association and the Italian Avalanche Service.

Claudio looks for every opportunity to be in the outdoors and share knowledge, information, and doubts—keeping an open mind, listening, and “thinking outside the box.” He also thinks it’s important to develop a culture of safety, especially in the mountains, and to practice it in everyday life.

What is citizen science? Why join CSO?

Claudio immediately liked the CSO project as soon as he saw it! He thinks that having real-time informations on snowpack conditions on your phone while you’re out in the backcountry is just great. Not only that, having a single worldwide database that you can download and use for scientific research makes the project even better.

Claudio loves the idea of sharing knowledge with everyone and ensuring that anyone, without having special scientific skills, can feel part of an important project. We all have the probe in our avalanche pack and it’s quick and easy to measure snow.