Devin Lehman is the Product Manager for Gaia GPS. Join him in planning and going on a backcountry ski tour, and to learn how to use Gaia GPS for your winter backcountry excursions. 

I’m a backcountry snowboarder who happens to work in tech. It’s a lame joke I’ve told coworkers over the past decade. (And it’s a joke that needs no explanation to my coworkers at Gaia GPS.) So when winter swung into central Oregon and the avalanche forecast looked promising, I jumped on the opportunity to tour Mount Bachelor with some friends before opening day. Here’s how I did it, from start to finish.

A New Mapping Paradigm

Technology has revolutionized ski tour planning. Growing up on ice coast of Maine, I spent many weekends with friends and family bootpacking up the Camden Snow Bowl to get a few edgeable turns. Hail, sleet, snow, and freezing temperatures rarely stopped us from having a good time outdoors. 

We didn’t have the best gear in the late ’90s. I wasn’t sure what “gore-tex” meant and jeans with sweatpants underneath often served as our premier choice of winter clothing. Checking conditions around Belfast, Camden, or Carrabassett Valley included picking up paper maps to look at terrain. We’d open a local newspaper to see weather forecasts. We’d talk to park rangers about conditions. And we’d turn on Maine Public Broadcasting to find out if school was canceled or if we’d be begging our parents to call in “sick” for us. These were the best methods we had at the time to plan, adventure, and share our outdoor experiences.

Enter Gaia GPS. Over the years, this app has transformed how outdoor enthusiasts, professionals, and weekend warriors adventure—including me.

Armed with vastly better tools and relocated to the opposite coast, my mission remains the same. When my friends and I decided we wanted to tour Mount Bachelor, I just had to turn to one resource to bring the trip to life.

Route Plan on the Web

With the best route planning tools available, gaiagps.com is the place I like to start planning any adventure. Plus, a desktop’s big screen also lets you get a better, bigger sense of the terrain than the tiny screen of a phone.

So start by going to gaiagps.com. Hit the locate button in the bottom right corner to center yourself on the map. Since I’m not planning this ski tour from my front door, I type “Mount Bachelor” into the search bar to bring me to my destination on the map. Conveniently, I can see the localized weather forecast from OpenSnow just by tapping anywhere on the map.

Activate Winter Maps

Of Gaia GPS’s hundreds of maps, a handful prove essential for every backcountry tour. I start by selecting Gaia Winter as my basemap. Designed in-house, Gaia Winter boasts the same clarity and file efficiency as Gaia Topo, but prioritizes winter travel. Backcountry ski zones conveniently pop-out from the map in blue and starting zones stand out in orange, making it easy to find places to tour. Gaia Winter’s winter color palette also pairs perfectly with the suite of winter safety maps we’re going to layer on top of it.

Snow Safety Maps

Next, I add the Slope Angle shading map and layer it on top of Gaia Winter. (Just drag Slope Angle to the top of the active map queue.) I turn the opacity down to about 30 or 40 percent so I can still see the underlying topographic terrain. Wondering what the colors mean? Tap the map name in the sidebar and scroll down to the bottom to see the map legend. Since I want to avoid slopes above 30 degrees, which could yield avalanche-prone terrain, I can easily pick my route through terrain that’s shaded yellow (26 to 29 degrees) or has no shading at all (less than 26 degrees).

Now that I’ve got a sense of the terrain, I add the Avalanche Forecast layer to the top so I can scope out the regional avalanche forecast for the day. By zooming out a bit on the map, I can see that the avalanche forecast for the central cascades is green. But I want to read the full report anyway, so I click on the link to the full forecast from the Central Oregon Avalanche Center. 

Weather Maps

I also add the Snow Stations Daily map to get snow conditions for the area, including the snow depth, how much new snow has accumulated, and the snow water equivalent, which tells you whether you’ll be skiing Montana cold smoke or Sierra cement. Since we’re touring a ski resort, I can also add the Ski Resort Reports map to get official conditions from the mountain. (Resorts with fresh snow glow on the map.) I can also add the Snow Depth map to get a visual on estimated snow depths throughout the area. Once again, tap the map in the sidebar and scroll down to the bottom for the map legend to see which colors correspond with what snow depths.

Given the late-season wildfires, I also add the Wildfire and Smoke Forecast maps just to make sure our plans don’t go up in smoke.

Finally, I add the Satellite Imagery map so I can get a sense of how treed the terrain will be, where we’ll hit treeline, and where avalanche paths may exist. I’m going to keep this map as an inactive layer for now; we’ll turn to it once we activate 3D mode.

Hone in on the Zone

Now that we’ve got all of our maps, I start to scout out potential zones for the tour. I’ve already decided I want to ski around Mount Bachelor. Using Gaia Winter, I can see the backcountry skiing start and touring zones are on the northeast aspect of the mountain. The Slope Angle map shows there are some clear low-angle paths up this side of the mountain as well. 

For easy reference, I mark this region of the map with a polygon. That way I can spy this area of the map at low zoom levels, and my touring partners can get a sense of where we’re going. To add a polygon, or “area,” click “Area” in the sidebar and add points to mark the perimeter of the zone. If the polygon shading gets in the way of seeing the map underneath, just turn it off by either toggling off “Areas” in the “Map Overlays” section of the sidebar. Or tap the area on the map, click the polygon in the sidebar, and turn the map visibility off. 

Map Route with Snap-To-Trail

Now that I’ve got a sense of the terrain and the region we’ll be touring, I’m going to map out a potential uphill route. Of course, this may change as we assess the conditions and terrain upon arrival, but it’s useful to have a sense of where we’re going and how long the route may be.

Zooming into the orange “start” zone near Mount Bachelor, I see there is a parking lot. I’m going to mark that as our starting point by dropping a waypoint on the map. Next, I’m going to map out the route. After clicking “Route” on the sidebar, I’m going to follow one of the trails switchbacking up the mountain. Mount Bachelor actually has designated uphill routes when the lifts are spinning, so I want to abide by this uphill route in case there are any employees working–I’d hate to pop up in front of a groomer or patrolling and startle them! Gaia GPS’s smart snap-to-trail routing automatically snaps to the trail as I plot out points along it. When I make a careless click on the web, using the undo feature makes route correction a breeze.

About two a half miles and 1,500 feet of climbing up the trail, we reach a saddle. As we had a group of folks with varying levels of experience, I want to create two options. One more mellow mid-mountain approach, and another option to summit if conditions are right. While creating the routes, I’m able to see the right statistics (weather, ascent, slope angle, avalanche conditions) and tailor the route accordingly. 

Some people may want to transition and ski back down here, so I’m going to end the route and give it a name: “Main plan.” For those who may want to continue on to the summit if conditions allow, I’m going to start a new route here in a different color. Once again, I let Gaia GPS’s smart planning tools do most of the work for me until the route reaches the summit.

For fun I even dropped a waypoint that could be a nice lunch spot for us to eat our pocket-tacos, a staple diet for touring adventures. 

Scout in 3D

Now that I’ve drawn some potential routes on the map, I want to get a better understanding of the terrain we will be covering by looking a the map in 3D. So I hit the “3D” button in the bottom right corner. Next, I add the Satellite Map to the top of our active map layers. Following the route up the mountain, I can see that the first half of the skin track goes straight up a ski slope with trees on either side. The second half switchbacks up a ridge above the treeline. Panning around this northeast face of the mountain, I can see some potential skiable chutes and faces.

Share with Friends

I want to share my routes, waypoints, and area with my friends so they can prepare for the tour at home and navigate in the field. First, I add all of these items to a new folder. Now it’s easy to share it with my partners. Just click on the folder, hit “Invite others to this folder,” and enter their email addresses.

Now when my friends open their Gaia GPS accounts on gaiagps.com, they’ll see a notification on the bell (top right of the screen) inviting them to add my folder to their accounts.

Sync Route to Phone

While gaiagps.com serves as the powerhouse for planning at home, I want to see all my new data in the field once we get going. To ensure it shows up in the app, open your Gaia GPS app at home. Tap the “Saved items” button on the bottom bar. Swipe down to automatically sync the items on your web and app accounts.

Take Maps Offline

We may not have cell coverage for the full tour. Plus, sometimes I like to put my phone in airplane mode to save battery life. To ensure I can see the map regardless of cell service, I’m going to download Gaia Winter and Slope Angle shading for offline use. 

To download the maps on the app, tap the plus button on the top bar. Select Download Maps, and move the rectangle over the area in question. I like to download a little extra map, just in case. Next, press “Save” and choose which maps you want to download for offline use. You also have the option to download the data that will let you create new snap-to-trail routes in the field without cell service. Why not, it can’t hurt–toggle on “Include data to create and navigate routes offline.” Hit next. Keep the app open while the maps download. If you have decent wifi, it should be quick.

Navigate with the App

The squad reviewed the routes overnight, and now it’s go time! Before I leave the house, I like to double check that my maps are downloaded for offline use and are set as active map layers. While I’m in the app, I can get driving directions to the parking lot. Just tap the route, hit the “More” button, and select “Driving Directions.” 

Upon arriving at the mountain, we meet up for a check in focusing on General headspace, Fitness, Willingness to suffer, Skiing ability and Avalanche risk tolerance. Once we completed the checks, the group agreed the mid-mountain lunch tour made the most sense.

Record Tracks

I like to record my adventures in Gaia GPS for a few reasons. One, recording your tracks leaves a breadcrumb trail of your progress in the app. That way if I need to retrace my steps, I can just turn around and follow the line on the map. Second, recording your tracks in the app lets you relive your adventure in 3D on the web once you get home.

So after I turn on my beacon and we do our checks, I start recording my tracks. Once again, tap the plus button. Select “Record a Track.”

Drop Waypoints

As we skin up the mountain, I drop waypoints to mark snow features, views, and to add notes about the snow pack and any other observations our team makes in the field. You can also drop a photo waypoint. Just tap the plus button and select “Take Picture.” Don’t forget to mark up the map with your memories.

Après 

The conditions were way too reminiscent of my ice-coast heritage, and side-hilling became the name of the game. For one member of our group, however, that was no issue. It definitely helps to have four paws with integrated crampons. We hit our top-out point, snacked a bit, and started the descent. While we didn’t have any deep pow lines to drop or slashes to throw, we sure did have a lot of fun. With Gaia GPS as our planning and adventuring tool, we were able to make a route directly back to the car without throwing our skins back on. A win in any backcountry enthusiast’s book! 

As snow keeps piling up in Bend and we watch the conditions, rest assured I’ll be counting down the minutes until I can get back into the mountains. Gaia GPS and Outside have elevated my ability to educate myself, plan, and execute some of my most fun adventures. I’m incredibly lucky to have found a place where I get to combine my passion for the outdoors with my love of working in tech. That lame joke has now become a dream come true–something I am grateful for. 

Cheers to Gaia GPS, Outside, and the outdoor community.