Relaunch of White Risk 2.0

CDs and DVDs were slowly gathering dust, while the internet was becoming faster and more ubiquitous. Expectations changed with it: content should be available anytime, anywhere. One fundamental question was on the table: what would the future of White Risk look like? The answer was obvious. White Risk had to move online.

As early as 2011, Atfront, Suva and SLF were already meeting to shape that future. They explored different options, assessed technical approaches and looked for a suitable funding model. Out of those discussions grew the vision of a platform that would bring all existing elements together under a single roof: White Risk 2.0.

The plan was ambitious: web and app were meant to work together seamlessly in a new kind of tour-planning tool, while the existing products and prototypes would continue in a new form. This led to a clear structure: White Risk Explore as the expanded knowledge section of the CD, White Risk Learn as an e-learning module, White Risk Pro as a presentation tool for instructors, White Risk Tour as a tour-planning tool based on SnowSense, and the White Risk App as SLF’s mobile app with current avalanche information and digitally planned tours.

Responsibilities were also clearly divided. Atfront took charge of the web platform, design, and the implementation of Explore and Learn. SLF was responsible for content, the tour-planning platform and the app. Suva financed Atfront’s development work.

The launch date was set early and announced publicly. Postponing it was not an option. What followed will sound familiar to anyone who has ever worked on a software project: the effort was underestimated, the final weeks became hectic and the nights grew short. Very short.

But we made it. White Risk 2.0 went live on 18 December 2013. The relaunch was celebrated at the Glacier Garden in Lucerne, as part of a media conference and a parallel special exhibition on avalanches. Even the dark circles under our eyes could not spoil the moment.

By today’s standards, some features still felt quite basic. Only one tour at a time could be displayed in the planner, planning itself was only possible on the web, and synchronization worked in one direction only: from the web to the app. Even the maps came with limitations. Swisstopo was not yet available free of charge and had to be purchased in individual tiles for offline use.

Even so, White Risk was pioneering work. It was the first digital tour-planning platform with Swisstopo maps and the first platform to make slope-angle maps available for the whole of Switzerland. For anyone moving consciously through avalanche terrain in winter, that was a real milestone.

With Explore, the knowledge section expanded significantly once again. Even today, many people do not realize how extensive it was: 95 films, 120 animations, 300 interactive graphics and 800 images. On top of that came interactive tools such as the Slab Generator, the Analyser and the Energy Balance Calculator, which made complex relationships easier not only to explain, but also to test and understand.

One important visual hallmark also remained: the idea of the rotating mountain. This navigation element had already been evolving since the early days of «The White Rush» and continued to be part of White Risk 2.0.

Many Explore contents are still available today. A few links:

With the launch, Suva made avalanche prevention the focus of its winter 2013/14 snow sports campaign. Alongside the platform, special White Risk Camps were introduced, a new format that invited interested participants to apply with ideas for how they would spread White Risk further. The most original submissions were invited to one of four two-day camps, one of them held in French. On site, tours were carried out and White Risk was used directly for planning and implementation in the field.

Here you can find more impressions from the first versions of White Risk Explore and Tour from 2013.