Avatech SP1 is the biggest evolution in avalanche safety since the advent of the transceiver

Avatech today officially launched the SP1, AvaNet and Snowpit Editor to the backcountry skiing world after testing in six countries with over 50+ partners. AvaTech has developed the first proactive avalanche safety system that instantly analyzes the snowpack and facilitates real-time sharing of this information to help individuals and groups to make better decisions. The SP1 and AvaNet will help backcountry professionals and skiers alike gather and share critical snowpack data that can help improve decision making in the field and ultimately save lives.

After talking with Brint Markle the Co-Founder and CEO of AvaTech and Thomas Laakso, Brand President of AvaTech at the summer Outdoor Retailer Show in August I was immediately intrigued by their company the SP1 and AvaNet. The SP1 will be one of those products that changes how we operate in the backcountry, first there were transceivers and then avalanche airbags and now the AvaTech SP1. The SP1 enables informed decision making based on real-time, in-field data for avoidance of potential life threatening avalanche terrain versus products like transceivers and airbags that help save lives once an avalanche occurs. This in itself is a huge leap forward. Combine this with AvaNet’s ability to share this data amongst the mountain community and everyone benefits.

“The SP1 is the result of over two years of rigorous design, technology development and testing,” explains Brint Markle, co-founder and CEO of AvaTech. “The SP1 is designed to help professionals understand the snowpack more quickly, accurately and objectively, and then share that information with the broader mountain community.”

Watch the following video to get a better idea of how the AvaTech SP1 and AvaNet work together:

AvaTech’s SP1 device reads snowpack structure, slope angle and aspect in seconds and then geo-tags the data, and uploads it real-time onto the AvaNet platform. AvaNet will dramatically increase the amount of data snow professionals can share and analyze, providing a unique geo-spatial database of crowd-sourced snowpack observations. Snow professionals will be able to gather more information and make better decisions with consistent data powered by this proprietary technology developed while at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Finally, professionals will also be able to rapidly upload their own manual snowpack observations with AvaTech’s Snowpit Editor, which features geo-tagging, photo upload and multiple forms of data visualization.

The SP1 features rugged construction with a collapsible 150 centimetre probe that folds easily into your backpack and weighs approximately one pound. Additionally, the SP1 can be wirelessly synced with a smartphone and AvaTech’s AvaNet™ cloud platform. Snowpack data can then be shared with a user community with the ability to search, track and discuss SP1 profiles and manual observations anywhere.

“I can’t dig twenty holes in a day, but I can certainly take twenty probe profiles,” states Brian Lazar, deputy director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. “So if I have that knowledge and I want to track a weak layer throughout different elevations, across different aspects or over time, I can use the SP1 to confirm the presence or absence of weak layers, which provides a much better understanding of how widespread a particular problem may be.” 

The SP1 will have its commercial debut at the International Snow Science Workshop in Banff, Alberta on September 29th when the unit will be available at the retail price of $2,249 with shipping to take place at the end of December. Professional subscriptions for AvaNet are $495/year and include the Snowpit Editor tool. You need not purchase the SP1 in order to sign up and utilize AvaNet.

For more info visit the Avatech site.