Friends of Colorado Avalanche Information Center

THE MATCH IS BACK! $30,000 match for Colorado Gives donations! 

A generous donor has created a $30K match for CO Gives Day! When you donate through Colorado Gives your gift will have twice the impact! Donate today to help us meet the full $30K Match!

Friends of CAIC is doing important work as unprecedented numbers of people head into the backcountry this winter. Join your fellow backcountry users in the spirit of giving and help us raise $55K to support avalanche forecasting and education in Colorado. Donate today!

OUR WORK

The Friends of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center is a 501(c)3 organization that was created to support the CAIC while contributing to avalanche awareness and education throughout Colorado. Since 2014, we have invested just over $2.9 million into avalanche safety. Our work consists of three main program areas, forecasting operations, technology, and education and awareness. 

FORECASTING OPERATIONS

Friends of CAIC provides direct financial support to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) to support forecasting operations. This funding allows the CAIC to hire additional seasonal forecasters. With additional forecasting staff, the CAIC is able to collect more snow science data across Colorado's vast areas of avalanche terrain. More forecasters will mean more local field data, which, in turn, will create more accurate and timely avalanche forecasts for you, the backcountry user. With your help, we can support the CAIC and make our entire community safer! 

Last year, donors like you helped us provide funding for 5 seasonal forecasters across the state! 

TECHNOLOGY

Your gift to Friends of CAIC will help support critical technology developments like the CAIC website and mobile app. These developments are hugely important as they ensure backcountry users can quickly access CAIC forecasts and safety products. This funding helped the CAIC release a brand new CAIC website, which features some incredible updates, including a new dynamic zone forecasting paradigm. Donor support also helped the CAIC launch the Avalanche Explorer Tool.

EDUCATION & AWARENESS

The Trailhead Outreach Program (TOP) is in its 4th season, working to keep "checking the forecast" top of mind among backcountry users. This year, we will have two TOP Coordinators visiting trailheads across the state. At each trailhead visit, they will distribute safety information, encourage the use of the CAIC website and mobile app, and answer questions about how to access the safety information generated by the CAIC. Last year, this program allowed us to reach over 6,500 people across Colorado! 

Whether newcomers to these sports or seasoned veterans, trailhead interactions with the Friends of CAIC team often lead to discovering new things about the CAIC products and avalanche safety efforts in Colorado. Our goal is to engage with over 7,000 backcountry users at 150 trailhead visits this year!

The Friends of CAIC Mobile Avalanche Education Trailer

With the help of our donors and National Forest Foundation funding, FoCAIC has expanded the TOP to include a new education trailer! We are building out the trailer to be a welcoming place for backcountry users to warm up and engage with avalanche education materials. It will be a focal point at on-snow education events across the state. The trailer will also be used to host more formal education classes, thereby expanding the impact of the TOP across Colorado. 

Our other education & awareness programs include:

1. Awareness Classes -  we are working with AIARE to develop a new in-person and online education class.  
2. Education Seminars - Colorado Snow and Avalanche Workshop (CSAW) & Colorado Backcountry Avalanche Workshop (COBAW)
3. Billboard and PSA Program - The Friends of CAIC creates, distributes, and pays for PSAs to run on broadcast TV, Billboard/OOH, online preroll, and digital advertising. These are targeted and tailored to different audiences as conditions warrant.