BCA Hires German Alpine Club guru as European Technical Director

BOULDER, CO (September 17, 2007) – Backcountry Access, Inc. (BCA) announced the hiring of Dieter Stopper as the company’s Technical Director for the European market. He is the newest addition to BCA’s continuing educational initiatives, adding another level of expertise to the company’s growing educational and marketing presence in Europe.

Stopper, 40, is a certified UIAGM guide living in Murnau am Staffelsee, Germany. He is the former director of research for the German Alpine Club (DAV), the world’s largest alpine organization (with three million members). Stopper is well-known in Europe for his cutting-edge research on avalanche rescue techniques, regularly published in the DAV publication, Panorama. Stopper’s responsibilities will include representing BCA at all relevant European technical events, reviewing all BCA educational materials, creating and producing a European “education tour,” managing European pro and media relationships, and training BCA’s European distributors.

Dieter is one of the most influential and progressive thinkers in the European snow safety community,” said Bruce Edgerly, BCA’s vice president of marketing. “He’s an elite mountaineer and guide, but is very in touch with the needs of the ground-level recreationist. He’s a perfect fit and we’re psyched to have him on board.”

Backcountry Access is a leading manufacturer of snow safety equipment, including Tracker avalanche transceivers, BCA shovels and probes, BCA Stash packs, and BCA snow study tools. The company also distributes Naxo alpine touring and Rottefella telemark bindings. For BCA and Stopper’s latest research on avalanche statistics and techniques, see www.backcountryaccess.com/research.