Colorado Avy Info Center should change...

[smitchell333]

Just a couple things, please...

1) When you call the main # we should have the option to select 1 for Northern Mountains, 2 for Central Mtns, 3 for the Southern Mountains instead of listening to the entire report for ALL mtns.




2) Please give us similar features to the Utah Avy Info. Specifically:

- The "Avy Concern" Graphic incorporated in the advisory is very useful:
http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/newadvisory/advisory.php

- The avalanche activity list is also very useful:
http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/Aval...eList06-07.htm

[summit]

I agree wholeheartedly!!!

[Hacksaw]

I know that occasionaly a staff member of the CAIC Boulder office looks at this forum (he/she shall remain unnamed).

So, I'd suggest posting any and all suggestions for the CAIC gang here. Who knows, maybe they will follow your suggestions....

[lemon boy]

THIRDED!

[Squatch]

can you make the auto-email not suck? WTF is up with the password dealie?

[marshalolson]

the 1. north 2. central 3. south idea is very good call.

[FrankZappa]

I like the observations section that the Crested Butte avy center does. I'd like to see something similar but broken down into ranges or the likes.

[goldenboy]

I like the observations section that the Crested Butte avy center does. I'd like to see something similar but broken down into ranges or the likes.

I got a postcard from the CBAC just yesterday- they want even more people to contribute to the obs page, so they sent out invites to everyone they could think of who ski the bc frequently to talk and have free pizza and beer. Pretty cool idea, try to get as many eyes out there as possible.

[Hacksaw]

Yea, I'd like to see a space on the CAIC website that would have recent snowpits posted...

[Staircase]

Totally agree with FZ regarding the CB Avy observations. I read them daily and they give a good indication of what is happening.

CAIC is this possible?

[summit]

Dear Friends,

I am writing you to tell you about some changes at the Colorado Avalanche
Information Center. Starting on Wednesday December 20, 2006 we will start
using a new website and forecasting system. This will change both how we
create forecasts and how we get them to you. Launching this new system is
the culmination of work that we began last winter and we are very excited
about some of the new features.

There are two features of the new system that affect the daily emails you
get from the CAIC. First, we are going to start issuing weather and
avalanche products for ten mountain zones. The names of the zones are:
Steamboat and Parks Range, Front Range, Vail and Summit County, Aspen,
Gunnison, Sawatch, Grand Mesa, Northern San Juan Mountains, Southern San
Juan Mountains, and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. There is a map on our
home page that will show you the areas covered in each zone. This means that
we will be issuing ten bulletins each morning and afternoon!

Second, is that as a Friend of the CAIC we have created an account in our
new system for you. This account will let you manage which products you
receive, the format of your emails (html or plain text) and make future
donations to the CAIC online with your credit card. The default is to
receive all ten zones in plain text. This means that if you get the morning
product you will start getting TEN emails and if you get both the morning
and afternoon products you will get TWENTY emails each day. To access you
account and select the products you want:

1. Go to the Colorado Geological Survey's online bookstore at
http://dnr.state.co.us/geostore.

2. At the bottom center of the page there is a link to Your Account.

3. You can sign in using your email address as your username and the
password avfriend.

4. Once you are in your account, select CAIC Zones on the left menu and
choose which zones you would like to receive. If you get both the morning
and afternoon products make sure you select zones for each product (there is
a drop down menu at the top of the page that lets you select the product).

If you have any problems with this process, please write us at
caic@qwest.net.

If you made a donation to the CAIC this year, we have set your account so
you will receive an email through December 1, 2007. If you have not donated
this year we have set your account to receive an email through January 5,
2007. You can renew your support for the CAIC and extend your email
subscription through the online store. Just click on Snow and Avalanche on
the upper menu bar and select the CAIC Donation at the level you wish to
donate. You can make larger donations by choosing multiple values of each
product. We promise not to send you any more emails than we already are!

There are many other features to our new forecast system and webpage, but I
will let you explore and discover them for yourself. We tried very hard to
get this ready for you by the beginning of the season. Unfortunately it took
a little longer than we expected, but we are very excited to launch it now.
We hope it will help us get better information to you. Please let us know
what you think.

Thank you for your support,
Ethan

Cool

I can't wait to see it

[MakersTeleMark]

Just a couple things, please...

[B]1) When you call the main # we should have the option to select 1 for Northern Mountains, 2 for Central Mtns, 3 for the Southern Mountains instead of listening to the entire report for ALL mtns.

You can call 970-668-0600 for just Summit/Vail in the mornings.

[Hacksaw]

That's a very interesting email.......

I never received it.....

[Staircase]

New site is up and running. Will take some getting used too, but looks like it will be much more informative.

Thank you CAIC.

[HikeforTurns]

Thumbs up on the new site, looking good. I like the new map and the danger rose trend.

[pde20]

Agreed...new site is much more detailed by area of the state and incorporates many features of other good forecasts/forecast centers.

Thanks CAIC!

[iskibc]

Wow, what an improvement! Nice job CAIC! Kudos.

[Hugh Jass]

Big ups for the new site. Real smoove like. Easy to navigate, great mouse-over info, and love the peaks, passes, towns overlays.

Great work.

[Alpine Dreams]

Really nice upgrade! The new look is great and the info is easy find -thanks CAIC!

[homerjay]

Is anyone else not getting their emails? I did what they told us to do in that email....

[pde20]

Is anyone else not getting their emails? I did what they told us to do in that email....

Check your junkmail filters...there are new seperate email account that sends each of the zone forecasts. Other than that, beats me. I'm sure there are some kinks in the system.

[Lone Star]

Would be nice to be able to opt for the old format for dialup users. Of any group of people who might be living in places too remote for broadband access, it's gotta be skiers.

The page takes a long time to load and often many of the components fail to load (the avalanche rose and trends, especially). Why the need for the fanciness? I want data, not Flash and high bandwidth presentation.

[Rontele]

This is just plain awful. How is anyone supposed to discern the avy danger and upcoming weather from this?!!!!

Weather Synopsis
-----------------
Posted at 2:30 pm on December 31, 2006Another trough is digging south through the Great Basin this afternoon. This one looks to be heading into Mexico with half the storm energy splitting to the north of Colorado and the other half dropping south into Mexico. Satellite images show quite a bit of cloudiness over the Great Basin this afternoon, which will rotate over Colorado this evening, bringing us some mostly cloudy skies, which will help keep temperatures a little warmer. Thesehigh clouds are forecast to hang around through tomorrow. Nothing else storm wise on the horizon. Several avalanches were reported today, though most ran yesterday. Also, one very close call occurred this afternoonoff Loveland Pass. On Vail Pass a couple of small naturals ran on Eand ESE aspects,one at 11,800 ftand one below treeline. One snowmobile triggered slideranin Shrine Bowl, on an east aspect at 11,800 feet. This one ran 350 vertical and about 75 feet wide.Fractures ranged from 2 to 7 feet deep. One soft slab was reported from Commadore Gulch north of Red Mountain Pass yesterday. This one wastriggered by a snowmobile on a north aspect 2 feet deep, 75 feet wide and 150 vertical and started above treeline. Also 5 hard slabs reported around Independence Pass, Chaffee County side, around 12,500 feet in elevation. Fracture lines 2-4 feet deep, NW-NNE and SSW aspects. These were a few days old. At 12:40 this afternoon near Loveland Pass twoglissaders triggered asoft slabon a path known as the Ironing Board just south of Dave's Wave (the slide we reported as Dave's Wave this morning actually was in "The Swell"). This open face funnels into a gully terrain trap. West aspect, ran an estimated 500 vertical, 300 feet wide, with a fracture about 1 to 1.5 feet deep.Estimatesplacethe fracture at about 12,200 feet.Reports indicated one person was buried, but was dug out, maybe some minor injuries. Current reports have them walking down towardsHighway 6. Summit Search and Rescue ison scenehelping out.Toepfer/Mellick

This looks like 0BernhardFranz did the forecasting

[mtnbikerskierchick]

I think adding an observations list and/or a slide activity list would be so helpful. Thanks to CIAC for all their work and for hopefully listening to our suggestions!

[summit]

Crossposted from this thread: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=72116 CAIC Displaying Bad Data

I think the new CAIC site is a bit too flashy. Yes there are more regions and trends, but there is less discussion than there used to be especially when it comes to weather.

They made it all flashy and pretty. They also made it high bandwidth which is bad for the people on dialup because they can't afford broadband or don't have access to it (ie, lots of people who live in the mountains). Loading the CAIC page and then going to the forecast page now involves 0.5-2MB of traffic. For a dialup user this could be several minutes on a slow connection.

My mobile phone can no longer access the CAIC website because all the flashy stuff doesn't work with mobile browsers.

Persons at workplaces with administrative restrictions on plugins for their browsers also may not be able to fully view the forecast pages.

The avalanche roses are no longer jpg's but part of the flashy stuff so nobody can copy a rose picture... into say a TGR thread anymore.

I like the trends and the extra forecast areas. However, the interface I do not like. CAIC forecasts are about delivery of information and flashy interfaces have not improved that function. The interface is clunky, slow, and creates opportunity for extra error.

Just my opinion:

Keep the rose trends and the extra zones
Lose the high bandwidth flashy interface and stick to simplicity (including basic text formatting and the use of paragraphs)
Bring back the extra weather and snowpack discussion and extra web links
Consider adding usefull features discussed in this thread such as the avi concern chart, avalanche activity list, snow pit data access