Black Diamond Presents: The Human Factor, a five-part multi-media story that investigates the decisions skiers make in avalanche terrain. Starting November 11th, every Tuesday for five weeks, a new chapter will be released. This week’s segment, Chapter 4, released on December 2nd, discusses how world-class ski photographer, Adam Clark, fell victim to the heuristic trap of familiarity, leading him and his company straight into unstable avalanche terrain.

Photo: Adam Clark Photo: Adam Clark

-Written by David Page

"ADAM CLARK is a world-class ski photographer who lives down the hill from McLean in Salt Lake City, in a scruffy old suburb set at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon. His friends call him A.C. He has an overgrown apricot tree in his backyard, a deck in the front with no railing that features two reclining camp chairs with an unobstructed sunset view, a spare room for his camera gear, and another in the basement that he lends or rents to pro athletes and other friends passing through. Like Andrew McLean, Clark has skied all over the world. He's spent enough time in big terrain to know his way around avalanche paths. According to his editors, he's not only one of the best photographers in the business, he's also one of the most thoughtful and cautious.

Last winter, on a sunny day in early December, Clark got up early and drove to Alta. He skied all day with friends and shot some photos in 16 to 24 inches of blower pow. "It was all time," he told me. "All smiles." In the afternoon, he met up with Kalen Thorien, another local pro, and Amie Engerbretson, who came out from drought-ridden Tahoe to host the 14th Annual Powder Awards. They got some great shots off the top of the Wildcat lift. The light just kept getting better. "We were on the wave of a perfect powder day," Clark recalled. "We didn't want to quit.""

Read the rest of The Human Factor, Chapter 4: And Then it Bites, at www.powder.com