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The CBAC is rolling out a new observation platform this season, in partnership with the National Avalanche Center.  This platform will be used by most avalanche centers around the country, so you’ll be looking at the same familiar tools if you go skiing or riding in California, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, etc.  The platform also improves our analysis capabilities and data management, and is better suited for future developments like a mobile app.

The observation form is intuitive. You can choose between the short form for simple text descriptions and photo uploads, or a long form which allows you to enter avalanche and weather details, along with problem assessments.  The observation viewer has three tabs: observations, avalanches, and visualization tools.  Check them out!  There are a few examples below. As with any new tool, there will be a bit of a learning curve for all of us, but hopefully you’ll find some of the new features helpful for your backcountry adventures.

FAQ’s

Do I have to provide a location when I submit an observation?

Yes, the form requires a location name and a map pin.  The location is used in our analysis tools and it is helpful for us to understand how your observation fits into a bigger picture of regional patterns.  If you’d prefer to protect your secret stash, you can drop a pin at the trailhead where you started from or in the general area of travel.

What about observations from previous seasons?

All observations from previous seasons are archived on our website still. You can find them under “Resources” from the website menu.  We are working on ingesting historical avalanche data into this new tool.

Where is the old avalanche rose?

The new visualization tools allow you to filter your search spatially or by avalanche size, aspect, elevation, trigger, problem, etc, similar to the rose.  We are currently working on linking the new database to our avalanche rose so that it still functions.  We’ll add it back to the website when/if that happens.

What if I don’t want to fill out an observation form?

You can still text us (970-444-2170), email us (cbavalanche@gmail.com), or tell us what you saw at the trailhead.

A mobile app?

The Northwest Avalanche Center has been developing a mobile app with offline functionality.  We will be working with them to make this resource available to our community in the future.

We’re excited to announce the release two new data visualization tools that we have been developing over the winter.  These products come from the collaborative volunteer efforts of Reggie Park and Michael Futch.  We owe them a huge thank you.  Currently, the tools are best suited for desktop computer use.  We are working on making them mobile-friendly this summer.  The links are accessible from our desktop homepage under the Observations->Avalanches tab on the top menu.  Our original avalanche rose, which is mobile-friendly, is still available on the website under the “hamburger” menu.

The first new tool is an avalanche rose with filters.  https://cbavalanchecenter.org/avalanche-rose/

Each dot on the rose represents an observed avalanche.  Dots are color-coded by a number of user-selected filters, such as avalanche type, trigger, forecast zone, or failure interface.  Dots are sized according to the avalanche’s destructive size, and shaded by how recent they are relative to today.  Note that the dots are randomly placed within the aspect/elevation octant that the avalanche originated from.  Thus, dot placement is not a precise azimuth or altitude, but rather, a general location within the boundaries of that octant.   If you mouse hover over each avalanche dot, it will provide additional information and a link to the original observation.  Use the time scale slider to filter by date.  Another important caveat is that the rose only shows avalanche activity that we observe and document, which is not a comprehensive tally of backcountry avalanches.  Our avalanche observations tend to be biased by the terrain that we have better views of or visit more often. For example, we have very good vantages of a lot of east and northeast facing paths from town, such as Climax Chutes, Happy Chutes, and Schuylkill Ridge, whereas we don’t have as many views of northwest or west facing avalanche terrain, such as the west side of the Ruby Range.

The second tool is our avalanche table.  https://data.cbavalanchecenter.org/table.php 

The avalanche table allows you to filter, sort, and search for avalanche activity by any number of variables, such as size, elevation, aspect, etc.  You can also export your filtered results as a PDF or excel sheet.