Interactive learning CD

The collaboration between SLF and Suva started around the turn of the millennium. Their first joint project was an avalanche film explaining the five avalanche danger levels, released in 2001. In well-known freeride areas, the video played continuously on dedicated screens, offering a dose of avalanche knowledge to anyone waiting for the next lift. The VHS cassette also became a fixed part of training materials used to teach the basics of avalanche awareness.

The impuls that eventually led to White Risk arrived shortly afterwards. One day, an unexpected package appeared in Suva's incoming mail: a CD from a student named Daniel Landolt. A passionate snowboarder, Daniel had studied Interaction Design in the United States. Throughout his studies, he carried an avalanche book in his hand luggage. So when it came time to develop an interactive master's thesis, the choice of topic was obvious: he would create an interactive learning CD about avalanches.

Daniel had heard about Suva's campaign featuring black snowboards as gravestones as well as the avalanche film. Hoping to find open ears, he sent his CD to Suva. Suva, already in contact with SLF, passed it on to Stephan Harvey for expert review. Harvey clicked through the CD and immediately sensed its enormous potential. In terms of content, not everything was fully correct yet, but the spark was there, and it quickly grew into something much bigger.

By the way, the project carried the working title 'The White Rush.' Dynamic, snowy, adrenaline-filled, but unfortunately a bit too reminiscent of a different kind of 'white powder.' For Suva, that was a clear no-go. The name was changed, and White Risk was born.

Suva and SLF decided to jointly develop a new, one-of-a-kind interactive teaching tool. To make it possible, Daniel Landolt founded the company Atfront together with his colleague and then-flatmate Peter Eisenegger. Working closely with Stephan Harvey, who provided the scientific and educational expertise, they spent the following months developing White Risk, the learning CD for avalanche accident prevention. After countless long days and late nights, the moment arrived: in January 2006, the CD was presented to the public at a press conference in Zurich.

The development effort was enormous. Extensive content had to be researched and prepared, animations and graphics were created specifically for the project, and the CD itself had to be programmed. The work was so comprehensive that many of the exercises still form the foundation of today's e-learning modules.

Mammut supported the development as a partner. Among other contributions, the content on improvised rescue was produced using Lego figures, together with Atfront.

Over time, avalanche instructors began using the CD in their training courses, even though it hadn't originally been designed for classroom presentations. The demand for its animations and videos grew so rapidly that a dedicated presentation tool was soon developed: White Risk Instructor. It came as a DVD or USB stick packed with selected content from the CD, plug-and-play avalanche education.

After the first version of White Risk was released in German and French, the English edition followed in 2007, and starting in 2010, White Risk became available in Italian as well.

Below you will find additional impressions from both the White Risk CD and the very first version, 'The White Rush.'

The links below will tell you more about the early versions of White Risk.