Social Media & Avalanche Safety

The Avalanche Research Program at Simon Fraser University and Avalanche Canada are getting ready to conduct a detailed study on social media and avalanche safety.

The Avalanche Research Program at Simon Fraser University Avalanche aims to approach the topic of avalanche safety more broadly to better understand the interplay of all components affecting avalanche risk and develop innovative solutions for managing it more effectively.

Social media has completely changed the landscape for sharing information about trips into the backcountry and avalanche safety. However, very little is known about how social media is actually used by winter backcountry recreationists.

We need to know more! A better understanding will help take advantage of the opportunities that social media offers to improve avalanche safety and help everybody avoid any potential pitfalls.

For Phase 1 of this research, they are looking for winter backcountry users (e.g., backcountry skiers/snowboarders, mountain snowmobilers, snowshoers, ice climbers) in Western Canada interested in being interviewed about their social media use. They are interested in the perspectives from all types of social media users ranging from casual consumers of information to frequent posters.

If you are interested in participating in the study, please click here to provide a bit of background information about yourself.