More Safety in Winter Sports: Outdooractive Expands Avalanche Situation Reports in Norway, the Alps, and the Pyrenees
Outdooractive, Europe’s leading digital platform for outdoor recreation and tourism, has increased the avalanche situation report data available through its app and website, contributing to greater safety for tourists participating in winter sports (www.outdooractive.com).
Updated daily in the free Outdooractive app and website, avalanche situation reports from official services are now available across Norway, the Alpine regions of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia and Italy, and the Spanish mountain regions.
Every year, skiing and winter sports claim many victims who are killed by avalanches. Proper preparation and information could reduce this number.
Norwegian Media reported that last winter, in just two weeks at the end of March, 44 people were caught in avalanches, with 4 dead and 12 injured. 25 of these people were foreign tourists. Since 2012, 65 people have died in avalanches in Norway and 22 of these were overseas visitors.
Norbert Hofherr, Outdooractive COO, believes that improving and simplifying access to information about avalanche warning levels can help reduce casualties. “This is a horrible ratio and the reason is partly because the ski tourism industry has often struggled to inform tourists about the current avalanche conditions. Ski touring holidays are predicted to grow massively in the next few years, and ski destinations are actively looking for solutions on how to distribute information about avalanche risks.”
To be safer off-piste in winter, the avalanche report is an essential means of assessing the dangers of snow, besides experience, topographical conditions and weather. Using the Outdooractive smartphone app or website, the current avalanche warning levels of mountain regions are shown on interactive maps. The map contains all important avalanche information that comes directly from the official avalanche warning services.
When planning a tour, you can see at a glance which danger levels the planned route will lead through. As this is a relevant safety feature in mountainous terrain, Outdooractive includes access to this information in the free version of its popular app.
Many organizations in the mountain sports and mountain rescue sectors trust and use Outdooractive themselves. “Outdooractive stands for reliability, trust and professionalism and is the official partner of many mountain sports associations, such as the Association of German Mountain and Ski Guides, the Austrian Alpine Police and the German Ski Instructors Association,” adds Norbert Hofherr, who is responsible for strategic cooperation at Outdooractive.