Colorado Mountain College helps redesign CAIC webpage to make avalanche data easier to visualize

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center has a brand-new look. Or at least, one of their data pages does. 

The new webpage for the CAIC still has the same avalanche information it always has for people heading into the backcountry of Colorado to play in the snow one way or another. The big difference is the way an average visitor interacts with that data, and how that new interaction relates to retention of the information given. 

The page includes details like the location of fatal accidents, what the person who triggered the avalanche was doing, how big it was, how destructive it was, and what kind of avalanche it was, all spanning back years and years in the past so Coloradans can notice the patterns and make smart decisions. 

Dr. Dara Seidl, an associate professor of GIS at Colorado Mountain College worked diligently alongside her students to code the page from the ground up. 

"It puts it into perspective this is not just for the people of Leadville, or people living in the mountains, but for anyone who is traveling into the backcountry," Seidl said. "Putting together a more compelling data visualization helps people to better understand those risks when you go out there."

CAIC said its partnership with CMC was a perfect fit, and they're thankful for the hard work the students put into making this a valuable page for everyone. 

"We saw something where students could go beyond class projects and the students could showcase what they are learning and tools they are developing and help the customers of the avalanche center understand the accidents and explore the data," Ethan Greene, director of CAIC said. "Instead of looking at it in tables and reports."

The page does not feature any accidents from this latest avalanche season because thankfully, we haven't had any. But the CAIC did warn that things will start to pick up in terms of avalanche danger with the coming storms this week.