Join Snow Pool to provide feedback on how best to communicate about avalanche safety.

With more people recreating in the backcountry every year, it is increasingly urgent that we are able to share critical information about avalanche conditions and risks effectively with everybody. Being able to do so can be the difference between life and death.

To communicate safety information in a way that works for you, we need your help.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) and the Avalanche Research Program of Simon Fraser University in Canada are building SNOW POOL, a community of backcountry users interested in providing feedback about their backcountry experiences and willing to review, share feedback, and provide suggestions about how to make avalanche safety information work better for everybody.

Who Should Sign Up?

You do not have to live in Colorado or have any avalanche knowledge to participate. We are interested in the perspectives of all types of users with all levels of experience. We are especially interested in hearing from individuals who are just starting their backcountry adventures or only occasionally go into the backcountry.

What Can Participants Expect?

Individuals who sign up will receive regular emails from CAIC and SFU to participate in short online user surveys and the opportunity to provide feedback on CAIC products and priorities. This is an opportunity to be part of a community that contributes to the development of improved avalanche risk communication, learn about CAIC research projects, and be eligible for incentive programs or entered into raffles hosted by some of our partners.

Informed Consent       Research Team Profile       Contact Information

Simon Fraser University is located on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Líl̓wat (Lil'wat), and St̓át̓imc Tmicw (St’at’imc) Peoples. We understand this acknowledgement to be a starting place for further reflection on historical and ongoing settler colonialism and for ongoing critical self-location. In addition to this statement, we hold ourselves accountable to meaningful learning and action at home, in the office, and on the skin track.