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So you’re out backcountry skiing and spot recent avalanche debris. What do you do? Well, now you can snap a photo from a safe location and send it in to the Canadian Avalanche Centre, along with the location and a quick description. We asked the CAC to fill us in on their new Mobile Observer Network, and what this means for you.
Earlier this year, the Canadian Avalanche Centre, in partnership with MEC and TECTERRA, launched the CAC Mobile app. The app puts avalanche danger ratings, weather updates and snowpack and avalanche activity information at your fingertips.
Now, we’re happy to announce the newest development: the CAC Mobile Observer Network.
With this new phase of CAC Mobile, you can share observations with our public avalanche forecasters and other backcountry users using your smartphone. A simple photo, location, and brief description from you will be incredibly useful – our avalanche forecasters can glean a lot of info from a photo. For example, they may be able to tell that an avalanche ran on a layer of buried surface hoar based on its location in a shady area at treeline, its wide propagation, and its depth. Your picture could tell a thousand words.
How your data helps
When you share your observations, our forecasters use that data to help create the daily public avalanche forecasts. Your observations provide forecasters with localized data they wouldn’t have otherwise had. Other members of the public will also have more info for better decision making in the backcountry.
The observer network provides a real-time transfer of information between backcountry users, so you can see what other people are observing. You can view their observations on a scrollable map or in a list filtered by date. This can help you stay current about your usual stomping grounds, or can get you up to speed on new areas to explore.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
The observer network is especially useful in areas we don’t currently get a lot of information from. Our forecasters use data from professional avalanche safety operations across Alberta and BC, but there are large areas with no professional operations, like the South Rockies, North Rockies, Bighorn, and Klondike regions. This is where you come in: the observations you send in on your backcountry travels provide much-needed information to us and to your backcountry peers.
Our CAC field teams in the South Rockies and Yukon will also use the Observer Network to communicate. Just as anyone from the public can post observations, our field teams will post their own photos and observations for you to view on the app. It’s yet another channel to broadcast what our avalanche technicians are seeing out in the field, alongside the regional forecasts and their blogs. (You can also find the South Rockies field team on Twitter.)
Prizes and what to watch for
The CAC will be giving away weekly prizes in winter to folks who send in high-quality observations, and anyone who registers will be entered to win monthly prizes. Your observations may even be used in forecaster blog posts to highlight specific problems.
The Observer Network is also just a first step – we’re creating a platform that we can build upon, so that you’ll eventually be able to add more detailed observations such as avalanche activity, weather information, and snowpack data. Stay tuned for updates, including the ability to view and submit observations from your computer as well as on your smartphone.
When it comes to avalanche information, the more the merrier. Send in your observations, and encourage your friends to join the Observer Network.
If you’re interested in getting into the backcountry, make sure you’ve got a three-antenna dedicated avalanche transceiver, a probe and a shovel; take an Avalanche Skills Training course; and check the avalanche forecast. Enjoy the snow!