This is a feature of our currently-suspended awaiting funding backcountry forecasting program. It is not available now. In the interim you are welcome to e-mail your observations to us.

Public Observations Pages

These public pages are intended to be the central information point for sharing and pooling avalanche and snow observations from our region.

Our formal advisory webpages are necessarily limited to postings from people who we know have the training and judgment to provide the best possible information, but we also know that all of us who are out in the hills have a collective wealth of information to share. This is the place for a broader information exchange.

Since these public observations pages are an open forum, we cannot vouch for the accuracy of the material posted on them. You must be your own judge.

Guidelines for Posting

• Use your real name. We want to build community and avoid the weird dynamics that anonymous web forums seem to breed.
• That said, we know there are some circumstances where privacy is a concern. Let us know if that is so and we will be discreet. Send your report by e-mail and request the level of privacy you need. Include your name in the note though, so we know it's from a legitimate source and can check back with you if we need to.
• Include the date, nearest community, location, and your name in a heading at the top so people can easily find the most relevant reports. Yes, you can be a bit vague about the exact location of your favorite powder stash, we all know how that is.
• Start with a text summary. Stick to an objective description of what you found. Don't assign an avalanche danger level, make a forecast, or state that you think it's stable or unstable. List the data and let the reader decide.
• Postings need not be long or technical. The point is to share the information while it is still timely.
• Brief notes like "We rode _______ today but backed off due to heavy windloading, shooting cracks, and several small natural slab avalanches in the area." or "We ripped everything in the _______ Basin area today and found no weaknesses in our tests and no signs of instability." are great. They quickly convey critical information while it's current and useful.
• These pages are for lay readers, so use plain language. Avoid abbreviations, acronyms, and obscure technical terms. Anyone who has taken our Level I course should be able to understand your post.
• The references on keeping avalanche field notes on our main Advisory page are the best guidelines for symbols, field practice, and terminology that everyone here will understand.
• If you want a more-detailed text section, list the three components of stability evaluation that you have noted - 1.) observations, 2.) slope tests and traveling tests (those you can do without dropping your pack and taking out your shovel), and 3.) pit studies and tests, if any.
• Under observations, are the key signs of instability present or not? They are 1.) avalanche activity, 2.) whoompfing or collapse, 3.) hollow sounds, 4.) shooting cracks, 5.) recent heavy snow, 6.) rain or thaw, and 7.) wind loading.
• Weather observations are useful: temperature, sky, precipitation type, intensity, and amount, wind direction and speed, and weather trend.
• We don't expect you to include your fieldbook pages, but they are very useful if you have a scanner. Clean them up, add the notes you were too rushed to write in the field, check for the usual fatigue and hypothermia errors, and ink them. Scan as grayscale (not color, files are too big) in JPEG format. We hope our program will automatically size them, but if you are sizing JPEGs manually for the web, use 72 dpi, medium compression, and make single page scans 400 pixels wide and double pages 900 pixels wide. Post them right below the text section.
• Next come photos in JPEG format. We strongly encourage you to post photos if you have them, a picture IS worth a thousand words! Again, we hope our program will automatically size them, but if you are sizing photos manually for the web, use 72 dpi, medium compression, and keep them between 500 and 700 pixels wide. Write the captions below each photo.
• The Haines and Skagway field areas overlap into adjacent Canada. The Canadian Avalanche Association > Discussion > Regional Discussion Board > Klondike Region links have had good postings for the passes, mostly from Whitehorse residents. If the boards are active this season, we encourage Alaskans to post your pass observations there too, and we welcome our Canadian neighbors to post here so we all share the best information.