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Hey anyone know about this site www.powdercloud.com? I came across it a few days ago. Seems like some kind of consumer version of the InfoEX or something. Site is a little old, maybe it didn't get off the ground? Cool idea anyway. They have a neat iphone app too.
Not a consumer version of the InfoEx however there is another product that sort of fills that niche, www.wisegoat.ca
Powder Cloud is an application that's designed for professional avalanche program management. They have a number of different platforms to suit a variety of user needs; Ski Resort, Heli & Snowcat Operators, Backcountry Lodge Operators, Industrial, Highways and Transportation etc. It can be interfaced with the InfoEx to streamline reporting if the user/operation meets InfoEx subscription criteria.
It's off the ground and being used by a number of operators and agencies. Cost has been a limiting factor in why it hasn't been more widely received.
Disclaimer: Im the developer of Avalanche Lab, powder cloud is one of my competitors.
The powder cloud site does work, and I think it's still actively developed, but did you see their pricing page? $69 per person per year. Way too expensive for recreational use.
Powder cloud just doesn't seem to be designed for recreational users, and they don't seem to be interested in making it work for recreational users(they've got a business to run).
The powder cloud website has some cool screenshots of an iPhone app that is "coming soon", but that page hasn't changed in two years, and i think those screenshots were probably made in photoshop.
If you want an online system that works, actually exists, and is free checkout Avalanche Lab. Avalanche Lab is an iPhone and iPad app for collecting snow, weather, and avalanche data. New for this year is Avalanche Lab Web(I was going to call it Avalanche Cloud, but i didn't want to create confusion with powder cloud), an online data sharing service that allows you to freely share your observations and view other peoples observations.
Avalanche Lab is committed to open standards: It can export to CAAML, an international standard for exchanging avalanche data. And it can import and export data from SnowPilot. Powder Cloud came up with their own data format.
Avalanche Lab is committed to playing nice with the avalanche community: Im working right now on a system so that any observations submitted to Avalanche Lab Web will be automatically submitted to the appropriate avalanche forecast center in the USA or Canada.
Avalanche Lab is free: in order for a system like this to be useful, people have to use it, and charging people $70 per year is not a way to encourage open data sharing. The Avalanche Lab app is free, though there is a paid version, Avalanche Lab Pro, that adds more features. It will continue to be free. The data sharing service is free, and will continue to be free.
Avalanche Lab does not currently have a web interface, it's just on iPhone and iPad, but im working on the web interface, and it should be out soon.
An Android version of Avalanche lab is coming at some point, but it probably wont be until the beginning of next winter.