Colorado has unpredictable snowfall and leads the nation in avalanche deaths each winter. A Crested Butte-based mountain guide is hoping his new avalanche risk assessment app can help change that.
Launched late last year, AspectAvy is a new risk management tool designed to make survival in avalanche terrain easier. Its interface helps skiers and riders make more informed decisions when recreating in the backcountry by mapping high-risk zones and encouraging active observation of snowpack. provide something. Although it’s no substitute for daily forecast checking or formal avalanche safety training, its creator hopes his AspectAvy will save lives.
Jeff Banks, who co-founded AspectAvy with product designer JB Leach, is an internationally certified mountain guide and has been teaching avalanche courses for the past 20 years. Current avalanche systems are outdated and don’t meet the needs of today’s backcountry skiers and riders, Banks said. This is reflected in the number of avalanche fatalities we see each year.
Twelve years ago, on the last day of a ski tour in Italy, when an avalanche broke out beneath her feet, Banks realized something. For a moment, he said, he thought he was going to die. Mr. Banks immediately jumped off the board he was standing on, but the rope connecting him to his client became taut and the group fell 1,500 feet. When it finally came to a halt, the skiers brushed off the snow unscathed.
Other guides and their clients had been crossing the same hill for days, but Banks had hit a “landmine.”
“I have the benefit of previous training and decades of experience, but I was wrong,” Banks said. “How can a normal person stand up to chance? That made me reexamine everything I thought I knew.”
Avalanches don’t happen everywhere, they usually occur on steep slopes greater than 30 degrees or on flatter runways. Therefore, even if the overall situation is dangerous, large areas of terrain are still safe. Still, the snowpack is complex and constantly changing, which can make decision-making difficult, especially for those new to the backcountry.
Backcountry users are encouraged to take courses from the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), which teach risk management and rescue techniques. But ensuring safety isn’t always easy and can sometimes feel like a “bait and switch” for students, Banks said.
“When they leave the course, they’re like, ‘I’m confused and overwhelmed and scared to death,'” Banks said. “Some people decide not to go skiing unless the risk is low. That’s because the system isn’t built to make it easy to have fun in the snow and get home to friends and family. It’s from.”
Many skiers and riders rely on static maps that show shady slope angles on mountains the same regardless of whether the avalanche risk is low or high. With AspectAvy, avalanche safety “is made easy,” Banks says. The app displays current avalanche danger using a shaded overlay on the map. The red area is a “no-go” zone and carries risks similar to BASE jumping, he said. Clear means risks similar to driving a car.
Local skiers and snowboarders rely on avalanche forecasting agencies like Crested Butte Avalanche Center (CBAC) and Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) to assess avalanche danger. However, Banks said his predictions are never 100% accurate and backcountry riders need to actively participate in verifying the information presented.
AspectAvy helps users test predictions with a checklist of simple observations that could mean a more dangerous situation exists. Users are asked if they are experiencing shooting cracks, “thuds” (the sound of snowpack breaking loose), rapid accumulation of new snow, or changes in temperature. Turn on the check mark to automatically adjust the danger level of the map.
The North American Public Avalanche Danger Scale has five color-coded levels, starting with low green and ending with extreme black. The third stage is located in the middle of the scale and is marked in orange: “Quite”.
At this point, backcountry users are advised to carefully evaluate the snowpack and make conservative decisions. Despite this warning, avalanche data shows that fatalities are highest when the risk is rated as fairly high. For this reason, Banks decided to deviate from the standard scale and use the color red.
“When you see a traffic light, green means go and red means stop,” he said. “Orange means you have to make a decision and use your judgment. Can you press the gas and get through the intersection? Or do you slam on the brakes? We ask people to stop and use their judgment. , I want to tell you to stay away from the avalanche area.”
OpenSnow, a popular weather and snow forecasting platform, was an early adopter of AspectAvy. OpenSnow tells users where good snow is, and AspectAvy helps show safe places to ski and ride.
“For backcountry riders, a single decision can mean they don’t make it out alive,” OpenSnow founder and meteorologist Joel Gratz said in a statement. “As a backcountry skier, I’m excited to work with AspectAvy and incorporate their data, checklists, and timely reminders to ensure I make decisions with no regrets.”
Later this winter, popular backcountry ski routes will be added to AspectAvy’s interface, allowing users to quickly plan tours. It comes with a web-based app that features his 3D images of the terrain.
According to Banks, AspectAvy is the most “revolutionary” backcountry safety device since the invention of the beacon.
“For 50 years, we have only had access to avalanche response equipment, which means everything has gone horribly wrong and now we are reacting to an avalanche and digging out our partners.” Banks said. “This is the first of its kind in avalanche safety, and we expect this to become the new standard within a few years.”
There is no “one size fits all”
Even with the release of AspectAvy, navigating through avalanche terrain is still complicated. CAIC Director Ethan Green said no one should be fooled by a “one-size-fits-all” approach to avalanche safety.
“It just doesn’t exist,” he said. “People should carry rescue equipment, get avalanche education, hire guides if necessary, and always read weather forecasts to stay informed. People should use the tools they feel are most helpful. Yes, and AspectAvy is one of them.”
Zach Guy, CBAC’s chief forecaster, praised the AspectAvy team’s innovation and said the organization has provided suggestions to improve the app before it is considered a practical public safety tool. The CBAC team was concerned that the app could make it difficult to locate dangerous runout zones. CBAC believes, along with Greene, that inconsistencies between AspectAvy and the widely accepted North American risk scale may also cause confusion.
Nevertheless, AspectAvy helps users recognize dangerous slope angles, Guy said. While some users will certainly benefit, other groups will continue to navigate steep terrain.
“Our forecast shows this,” Guy said. “We tell people this is the most dangerous slope, but people still gravitate there, often because it’s a ski area and it’s a place they want to recreate. People use the app Whether they choose to apply the information is another question to be determined in the future. We hope this will lead to safer travel habits.”
(Bella Biondini can be reached at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)