An API a Day Keeps the Avalanche Away
A potentially life saving addition to backcountry ski gates.
The number one problem facing backcountry skiers is understanding and mitigating the risk of triggering an avalanche. To avoid this life threatening possibility riders must carry special safety equipment but more importantly understand the snowpack they are riding on. Such information can be found on sites like https://www.avalanche.state.co.us/ run by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center or CAIC. Although services like this exist it is on the riders themselves to remember to check each day before venturing out. This in itself creates a potential problem as a forgetful or lazy rider may skip this step if they “feel” conditions are safe. Novice riders who do not have the experience needed to venture beyond may also not even know that avalanche reports exist.
This week I have begun working on a potential solution to this problem space by utilizing the already present backcountry entrance gates found on resort boundaries. These gates remind skiers that they are exiting the relative safety of a resort and are now completely on their own. These gates also provide some information about avalanche safety but do not contain the current avalanche danger level nor any information on which slope aspects or elevations may be more dangerous. These gates only contain stagnant avalanche information with no adaptability for varying conditions.
Thus far I have created a simple proof of concept by utilizing a weather API and theorized further about its potential implementation. Seen above is a current backcountry gate. The proposed solution would add a small LED screen connected to a satellite network. This screen would then show the current avalanche danger level along with other characters. A sign would then be placed next to the gate that would act to unpack the information on the screen. Key letters on the screen would relate to key factors about the current snowpack. Riders for example would see on the screen a red background with the characters 4, S, 11. Translating now on the sign riders would understand that the avalanche danger is 4 out of 5 and most dangerous on south facing slopes above 11,000 ft.
To begin I simply took the current temperature for Boulder, CO and displayed it. The funky equation seen below and high levels of decimal places is a result of the API’s inherent Kelvin unit system and would have no effect on the actual used solution.
Although the temperature itself helps in understanding avalanche safety, it is acting here as a mere proof of concept. Final implementation would require retrieving the character values discussed above from a database like the CAIC. Currently the CAIC does not offer a direct API and a partnership would help expedite obtaining the needed data.
Next I wanted to show the avalanche danger represented as a color. For this it was necessary to implement a simple “if -> then” statement.
First I utilized the temperature data to log within the browser console “warm or cold” if the temperature was above 32f. Once this was established I could then transition the data observation to the background color. I continued to use the temperature as my data although further work will be needed to retrieve the actual avalanche danger level.
Below you can see what the final screen would look like. One thing to point out however is the replacement of current temperature with the above mentioned danger level, aspect, and elevation characters. Although that means this is not a completed solution, the functional code would remain the same with only the API itself changing.
It is my belief that with the right partnerships and funding for implementation this solution strategy could help save lives.
Here is a link to my GitHub code Repo: https://github.com/calebhammel/BackcountryGateWarning
