Ski GPT: AspectAvy takes the guess work out of decision making

AspectAvy combines all the needed information for tour planning into a simple message and marks high-risk zones on a map. [Photo] Courtesy AspectAvy

After a record-breaking number of fatalities occurred in the 2020/21 season, snow safety experts searched for a way to reduce fatalities in the future. One of those experts was internationally certified guide Jeff Banks, who recently announced a new subscription-based app aimed at helping users plan safer backcountry tours.

“Everybody who lives in a mountain town pretty much knows someone who has died in an avalanche,” says Banks in a video introduction to AspectAvy. Banks himself has lost 12 friends and colleagues and notes that professionals are just as likely to be caught in avalanches: “They have about two near-death experiences with avalanches a year.”

AspectAvy combines information from local avalanche centers, weather forecasts, topo maps and avalanche statistics to determine high-risk and low-risk areas. The app shares a clear message for the day like “Stick to slopes that are 32-degrees or less,” which is paired with fatality statistics specific to the day’s avalanche problem. Additionally, it highlights high-risk areas on a map and will send alerts to a phone or smart watch when any group member is getting too close to them in the field.

“We coach you every step of the way from your gear check to your tour plan to your beacon trailhead check,” says Banks. At the end of the day, the app provides a risk score to help the group debrief their day.

While having an app to help manage risk in the backcountry can’t hurt, it is meant to be paired with the proper training, such as an Avalanche Level 1 course. Banks—an 18-year avalanche education veteran who has worked with everyone from beginners to snow professionals and U.S. Special Forces—has also designed a two-day course that “works hand in glove with the Aspect Avalanche app.”

The AspectAvy app will be available on Nov. 1, 2023. After a two-week free trial, annual subscriptions will cost $50.

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Comments

  1. This doesn’t take the guess work out of deccision making, it takes the decision making out of decision making. Not going to make people safer. Not everything is better with an app.

    • I disagree. The app will assist with the decision-making process by providing helpful and important information. And if the user makes a poor decision or inadvertently enters an area with statistically higher risk, the system will alert them as well.

      You are right that not everything is better with an app, and it is still the user’s responsibility to make safe decisions. But the more info available during the decision-making process, the better.

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