Revelstoke-based Canadian Avalanche Centre’s new app upgrade to help improve avalanche forecasting

Help improve avalanche forecasting with Canadian Avalanche Centre's new app upgrade. — Photo courtesy CAC.

Be part of the Canadian Avalanche Centre’s (CAC) new Observer Network! Upgrade to CAC’s smartphone app allows users to share observations and information

The Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC) recently released their new Observer Network today, which will allow backcountry users to submit and share observations from the field. The Observer Network is an upgrade to CAC Mobile, the CAC’s smartphone app. Through the Observer Network, photos and comments can be uploaded and shared with other backcountry users and the CAC’s forecasting team in Revelstoke.

“A picture is truly worth a thousand words,” says Ilya Storm, Field Programs Manager for the CAC’s public avalanche warning service. “We’re looking forward to receiving images of avalanches, precipitation, cornice build-up, wind action, just about anything that helps us verify our forecasts and improves our understanding of local conditions.”

With the Observer Network on their smart phones, backcountry users will have close to real-time access to observations taken by others in the field. Once a photo is uploaded to the network, it will be geo-tagged and pinpointed on the app’s map for everyone to see.

“The Observer Network will be another great tool for us to communicate with backcountry users,” adds Storm. “We’re looking forward to seeing its use grow and adding to a conversation that will improve everyone’s understanding of current conditions, which can translate into making better decisions in the field.”

CAC Mobile and the Observer Network were developed with the generous support of Mountain Equipment Co-op and TECTERRA. If you already have CAC Mobile, the upgrade with the Observer Network will appear today. CAC Mobile can be downloaded for free at Google Play and the Apple Store.

For more information visit the Canadian Avalanche Centre.