Home > Trip Reports > March 13, 2015, - Rainier Slope Map (GPS-enabled)

March 13, 2015, - Rainier Slope Map (GPS-enabled)

3/13/15
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
5061
8
Posted by AC on 3/15/15 1:07pm
Hi, please read if you like maps, and Mount Rainier.

Using GIS software, I've assembled a smart phone enabled slope map that clearly identifies the terrain hazards and ski opportunities surrounding your GPS position while on Mount Rainier.  Designed for a ski mountaineer, by a ski mountaineer/GIS analyst, this map provides an unparalleled view of the intricate mountain terrain features, (as small as 1 meter) that surround your GPS position.

Simply load this map onto your iPhone, iPad, or Android device (after installing Avenza PDF Maps - totally free) to realize your surroundings in a whole new way.

My background is in ski mountaineering and GIS analysis, I've climbed Mt. Rainier as well as I worked for Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park as a GIS analyst.  I'm always interested in ways to use GIS data to enhance my backcountry skiing opportunities.  These smart phone based slope maps have allowed me to find and avoid terrain features on numerous occasions during my own mountaineering pursuits in southeast BC.

I hope you find this useful for the Summit to Paradise zone on Mt. Rainier.  I am very interested in any feedback or questions.
Map is designed to be used on smart phone app (Avenza PDF Maps)..

best regards!
ac

download map from this link: (available til tomorrow afternoon)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rc5mzr2gn8ppzqa/GPSki_MORA_P_rev1.tif?dl=0

This map is available via Avenza PDF Maps application map store, accessed from within the app.
If the dropbox link above is broken, please consider purchasing for $2.99. 
First off, this is absolutely fantastic.  There is more detail/clarity in this map than basically any other digital map I have found.  I also like the color classifications of the terrain.

Not sure it you are working on it, but my only request would be to include more than just the Paradise/Summit corridor.  Sunrise, Glacier Basin/Inter Glacier.

Great work, a very useful tool!


http://wbskiing.com/default.asp

I like the idea... Check this out link. The Wasatch has a map you can download on your phone.  The runs are marked and you can pin point your location as a blue ball on the map.  You can enter a run or area and then select naviagate to use the GPS and compass.

Any interest in offering the shapefiles for purchase (Xmap)?

cool!  Love seeing other GIS people geek out on this sorta stuff.   I use CalTopo's slope shading all the time, for those interested you can check that stuff out below (not optimized for smartphone viewing though unless you print to pdf and convert)

http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=46.8279,-121.75945&z=15&b=t&o=r&n=0.54&a=sg

Hi,
thanks for all the comments and suggestions! 

John Green - I don't really end up with a shapefile that would be useful to share (or sell).  Rather, I end up with a collection of rasters, and shapefiles in my GIS and then the final product is really just the georeferenced image that I export.  However, if you're a gis'er, here is the source data for the LiDAR.  You'd be able to recreate maps for your own trips quite easily (in GIS software).

http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/549/

=====================

bgombasy - appreciate the complement! glad you like it.  In short, I originally tried to include much more of the Mountain on this first map, however I ran into issues with file size being waaaay to large.  I'm exporting this map from my GIS at a very high resolution so if I include more of the mountain I end up with files sizes that aren't easy to share and upload.  I suppose that a map of the inter-glacier and Emmons zone would be quite useful since that is a poplar area. 

=====================

Tomlike - thanks for that suggestion, I have heard about this app! I'll have to take a look.  Keep in mind that the map I'm pushing here is based on incredibly high resolution LiDAR data, versus the traditional way that USGS topo (terrain) map are produced.  The traditional ones are great, but the LiDAR is just amazing.

=========================

ok, gotta share a quick ski trip since that's supposed to be what this site is about!

a buddy and I skied Three Sisters in Fernie BC about two weeks ago, in what seemed like the last few days of access before some key sections of the route melted.  I've climbed up the middle sister several times but was never able to ski it since it's always full of Avalanche debris.  Well, our exceptionally snow free winter had a sliver lining in that there had been almost NO avalanches for like a 4 week period, so therefore the route was smooth and skiable at this time.
More often than not, it's best to be off this mountain before the heat of the day results in hazards.. We started from car at 1 am, returned at 2pm. 

13 hour rt from car to car.  5,000ft of skiing.
just realizing that I'm not very good at writing trip reports. 

AC,
I downloaded your map and tried to use it for reference whilst schussing around the reference area.

I don't know if its the color choices or the underlain satellite photo but I cannot for the life of me discern what's gray, what's light blue, and what's just snow cover. Hints? Tweaks?

Love the idea, and love the use of Lidar for the high-resolution topo detail that is critical for ski analysis.

author=Jonn-E link=topic=33918.msg140387#msg140387 date=1427513272]
AC,
I downloaded your map and tried to use it for reference whilst schussing around the reference area.

I don't know if its the color choices or the underlain satellite photo but I cannot for the life of me discern what's gray, what's light blue, and what's just snow cover. Hints? Tweaks?

Love the idea, and love the use of Lidar for the high-resolution topo detail that is critical for ski analysis.


Hi John,

sorry to hear you're having issues differentiating between
0-5°
6-25°
perm snow/glacier

I've downloaded the map from the Avenza store to make sure I'm seeing the same thing as other users.
-please consider this.
If you are looking at a spot and you cannot tell if it's 0-5°, 6-25°, or perm snow/glacier please first zoom out and you should be able to see if you are within a glacier/snow polygon from the clear edges that exist.  If that answer is yes, than you are clearly on a blue, or grey pixel on top of glacier/snow.  Otherwise, if you are not on snow, than you are on blue, & grey slopes that are flat enough to allow easy skinning. 

Give me a day or so John, but I might have a tweak that will work.  I'll see if it works to overlay just the outline of the glaciers on the map.  You can turn it on and off as a KML overlay within the Avenza app.  I did not want to emphasize the blue and grey since those are not really the hazards, which of course makes the issue you raise unfortunately more likely.

I'll contact you with the KML overlay ASAP.

That looks good.  Hillmap is also a very useful tool.
http://www.hillmap.com/

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2015-03-15 20:07:49