# Backcountry Briefing

> Automated daily backcountry conditions briefing for anyone traveling in BC and Alberta backcountry ski terrain — from individual ski tourers to heli-ski operators and guide companies. Aggregates avalanche danger, snow data, weather forecasts, and road conditions across 29 zones (22 BC + 7 AB/BC border) from Rossland to Jasper and the Okanagan, organized into 8 regions. Delivered by email at 6:30 AM PST.

Backcountry Briefing is a data aggregation service — not an avalanche forecasting service. Avalanche Canada danger ratings are passed through verbatim with no interpretation. It consolidates the 20-45 minute morning conditions check that backcountry travelers, guides, and ski operators perform each day across Avalanche Canada, resort snow reports, DriveBC, Alberta 511, weather models, and snow pillow networks.

## Overview

- [Homepage — All Zones](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/): Live zone conditions grid, interactive map, and signup
- [FAQ](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/faq/): What the service is, who it's for, how scoring works, coverage, data sources, expansion plans
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/privacy/): Data collection, storage, and unsubscribe

## Zone Conditions by Region

All zone pages are updated daily at 6:30 AM PST with live avalanche danger, snow totals, weather, and road conditions. 7-day archive available per zone.

### South Rockies

- [Fernie / Lizard Range](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/fernie-lizard/): Fernie Alpine Resort, Island Lake Lodge, cat/heli terrain. 9 sub-zones with terrain-level scoring.
- [Flathead / Akamina-Kishinena](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/flathead/): Remote wilderness snowmobile and ski touring
- [Elkford / Height of the Rockies](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/elkford/): Upper Elk Valley, Kananaskis-adjacent. 4 sub-zones.
- [Crowsnest Pass / Castle](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/crowsnest-pass-castle/): Major Alberta touring hub, Castle Mountain area

### Central Rockies

- [Lake Louise / Icefields Parkway](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/icefields-parkway/): Lake Louise to Columbia Icefield, Banff and Jasper NP backcountry
- [Kootenay / Highway 93S](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/kootenay-93s/): Kootenay National Park corridor, Vermilion Pass
- [Kananaskis / Smith-Dorrien](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/kananaskis/): Smith-Dorrien corridor, Spray Lakes, Peter Lougheed PP
- [Canmore / Bow Valley](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/canmore-bow-valley/): Ha Ling, EEOR, Bow Valley Wildland PP. Major guided touring hub.
- [Jasper / Marmot Basin](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/jasper/): Jasper National Park, Marmot Basin backcountry, Maligne Range

### Columbia Valley

- [Kimberley / Northern Purcells](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/kimberley-purcells/): Purcell Mountains, Kimberley Alpine Resort, St. Mary valley
- [Invermere / Panorama](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/invermere-panorama/): Columbia Valley, Panorama backcountry, Toby Creek, Purcell Wilderness
- [Radium / Paradise Valley](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/radium-paradise-valley/): Radium Hot Springs and Paradise Valley area
- [Fort Steele / Premier Range](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/fort-steele-premiers/): Rocky Mountain Trench between Kimberley and Fernie, Top of the World PP

### West Kootenays

- [Nelson / Whitewater](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/nelson-whitewater/): Whitewater Mountain Resort, Selkirk touring
- [Kootenay Pass / Salmo](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/kootenay-pass/): Highway 3 corridor, Stagleap Provincial Park
- [Valhalla / Slocan](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/valhalla-slocan/): Valhalla Provincial Park, Slocan Valley
- [Rossland / Red Mountain](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/rossland-red-mountain/): RED Mountain Resort area, Trail to Rossland corridor
- [Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/kokanee-glacier/): Popular touring destination near Nelson

### North Columbia

- [Nakusp / Arrow Lakes](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/nakusp-arrow/): Central Selkirks, Summit Lake, Halcyon

### Glacier / Rogers

- [Revelstoke / Rogers Pass](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/revelstoke-rogers/): Rogers Pass, Glacier National Park, Mt. Revelstoke area
- [Revelstoke Southside](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/revelstoke-south/): Frisby Ridge, Keystone-Standard, Boulder-Begbie
- [Golden / Dogtooth Range](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/golden-dogtooth/): Kicking Horse Resort, CMH Golden, Rogers Pass access

### North Thompson

- [Blue River / Cariboos](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/blue-river-cariboos/): CMH Cariboos, Mike Wiegele Heli-Skiing. Premier heli-ski zone.
- [Valemount / Robson Valley](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/valemount-robson/): CMH Valemount tenure, Mt Robson PP backcountry
- [Sun Peaks / Interior Plateau](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/sun-peaks-plateau/): Sun Peaks Resort area, Chatter Creek cat-ski nearby
- [Wells Gray / Clearwater](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/wells-gray-corridor/): Wells Gray Provincial Park, Trophy Mountains, Helmcken Falls corridor

### Okanagan

- [Big White / Kelowna Highlands](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/bigwhite-kelowna/): Big White Ski Resort, Okanagan Highlands backcountry
- [Silver Star / Vernon](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/silverstar-vernon/): Silver Star Mountain Resort, Vernon backcountry
- [Shuswap / Eagle Pass](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/zones/shuswap-whitecroft/): Eagle Pass between Revelstoke and Kamloops, Sicamous, Three Valley Gap

## Data Sources (17 sources via 15 fetcher modules)

- [Avalanche Canada](https://www.avalanche.ca): Danger ratings, avalanche problems, terrain travel advice, confidence statements, forecaster comments — passed through verbatim
- [Avalanche Canada Weather Stations](https://weather.prod.avalanche.ca): 154 alpine stations auto-discovered within 50km of each zone — temperature, wind, snow height
- [Open-Meteo](https://open-meteo.com): GEM weather model — treeline/alpine/below-treeline forecast bands, freezing level, 48h outlook
- [DriveBC](https://www.drivebc.ca): Road conditions, closures, and incidents on key BC access highways
- [DriveBC Webcams](https://www.drivebc.ca): Highway cameras for BC zones
- [Alberta 511](https://511.alberta.ca): Road conditions and closures for Alberta zones (Kananaskis, Canmore, Jasper, Crowsnest, Icefields Parkway)
- Alberta 511 Webcams: Highway cameras auto-discovered from zone bounding boxes for Alberta zones
- BC ASWS Snow Pillows: Automated snowpack sensors — 8 active stations across the BC corridor
- ECCC Weather Stations (via Meteostat): 5 Environment Canada climate stations for ground-truth validation
- [mountainweather.ca](https://mountainweather.ca): Study Plot (1615m) and Polar Peak (2130m) wind data for Fernie zone
- Resort Snow Reports (7 resorts via 5 fetcher patterns):
  - Fernie Alpine Resort (2134m), Kimberley Alpine Resort (1982m), Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (2450m) — kallyas-theme JSON
  - [RED Mountain Resort](https://www.redresort.com) (2075m) — REST API
  - [Whitewater Mountain Resort](https://www.whitewatermountainresort.com) (1950m) — HTML scrape
  - [Big White Ski Resort](https://www.bigwhite.com) (2319m) — Drupal HTML scrape
  - [Silver Star Mountain Resort](https://www.skisilverstar.com) (1915m) — DOR platform REST API

## Scoring Methodology

Each zone receives a score from 0-100 based on four weighted factors:
- Snow (40%): 24h new snow from highest-quality available source (resort > alpine station > snow pillow > model)
- Avalanche Safety (30%): Inverse of Avalanche Canada danger rating at treeline
- Roads (15%): Road condition severity on access highways (DriveBC or Alberta 511)
- Weather (15%): Wind, visibility, and temperature from alpine weather stations

Grades: Epic (90-100), Great (75-89), Good (60-74), Fair (45-59), Poor (30-44), Avoid (below 30)

Zones with sub-zones (Fernie, Elkford) have terrain-level scoring using elevation-weighted avalanche danger, aspect-problem matching, freezing level penalties, and wind loading adjustments.

## Optional

- [Sitemap](https://www.backcountrybriefing.ca/sitemap.xml): All zone pages, updated daily