Anyone checking out the latest avalanche bulletin will find themselves on White Risk. This is where the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) shares information about snow and avalanches. Even though more and more people are venturing off-piste, the 20-year average of 22 people dying in avalanches in Switzerland each year remains constant. This is a success story for the White Risk avalanche prevention platform, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this winter.
In 1998, geographer Stephan Harvey was an avalanche warning officer at the SLF, while also running avalanche courses as a mountain guide. At that time, avalanche awareness consisted of pictures and text. Tours were drawn in pencil on paper maps and slope angles were measured from contour lines using a special scale. Harvey's interest in imparting knowledge made him the ideal candidate when the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva) wanted to make a video about the five avalanche danger levels. A close collaboration between the SLF and Suva began, with the shared goal of promoting accident prevention.

Guides users to good decisions
White Risk focuses on imparting knowledge through digital learning content, promoting risk awareness and preventing accidents by good preparation. This prevention mindset is one shared by both the SLF and Suva: helping people to take personal responsibility and make informed decisions before things get critical. In 2013, White Risk launched on the web. The updated version provided slope angle maps and a tour planning tool, all synchronised with the app. Nothing like this had been done before. What the platform does not provide are ready-made tour descriptions. Anyone heading out on a ski tour must plan the route themselves and familiarise themselves with the terrain. Why? "The tool guides you towards good decisions, but it doesn't make them for you," explains Harvey.