Mapping avalanches

[snoboy]

A new find for me www.avalanchemapping.org Looks interesting, and there are some nice maps for those of you so inclined.

 

Mostly foucused on CO and UT.

[tele_nut]

That's a pretty awesome project. Good data. It's interesting to see how many avalanche paths descend into what looks like timber stands on the topos or even originate in timber areas.

[JoshK]

Im always confused by the timber/non-timber markings on the topo maps. They aren't always correct (obviously) and dont always correlate directly with safe tree cover or not. I bet in UT and CO it's even more difficult since what might be considered timber isn't thick enough forest to prevent slides, as opposed to good ol' PNW west coasts forests which slides generally wouldn't originate in.

[tele_nut]

No doubt, but for someone with no knowledge of the area it certainly gives them cause to rethink their approach plans when they see things like that.

[forrest_m]

i took a navigation class one time from an old USGS dude who told us that while the current definition of the green areas on the maps is "marketable timber", back when most of the original work was done, the definition was "six feet tall and thick enough to hide troops." (much of the impetus - and a good deal of the funding - for the mapping came from the military)

[JoshK]

i took a navigation class one time from an old USGS dude who told us that while the current definition of the green areas on the maps is "marketable timber", back when most of the original work was done, the definition was "six feet tall and thick enough to hide troops." (much of the impetus - and a good deal of the funding - for the mapping came from the military)

 

excellent...the topo maps will come in very handy when I make my invisible ninja traverses across vast distances undetected

[cj001f]

A cool adjunct for route finding is USA Photomaps http://jdmcox.com/

It allows you to quickly toggle between USGS topos, and the aerial photos they are based on!