adventure
AspectAvy Revolutionizing Backcountry Safety with Preventative Avalanche Technology by Lexi Reich
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eff Banks, an internationally certified mountain guide and the co-founder of AspectAvy, brings a wealth of experience to the table. With two decades of teaching avalanche courses to a diverse range of individuals, including mountain guides, U.S. Special Forces and recreational enthusiasts, Banks’ expertise is unmatched. His personal connection to backcountry skiing runs deep, marked by a North American ski mountaineering championship and a harrowing avalanche survival story in Italy that served as a catalyst for change. While on a ski tour across the Ital-
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ian slopes, Banks was leading a group through well-trodden terrain. “My former examiner in the guide program was five minutes ahead of me with the other clients when the slope fractured at my feet. I thought we were dead,” Banks recalls. It was 1,800 feet of heart-stopping descent. Miraculously unharmed, they sought solace in a mountain hut, beers in hand. Banks pondered the collective error, realizing current methods were inadequate. This revelation ignited a mission: to revolutionize backcountry safety. The inspiration behind AspectAvy is rooted in a sobering reality — the loss of friends and colleagues to avalanch-
es. Banks’ extensive network of mountain guides and avalanche forecasters attest to the frequency of near-death experiences in their line of work. In 2021, 37 lives were lost by avalanches in the United States, marking the highest fatality rate in the history of backcountry recreation. “The Vail Valley has lost its share of friends and loved ones,” Banks says. “AspectAvy is listening.” Understanding the fear and confusion that plague backcountry travelers, AspectAvy was born out of a deep empathy for their plight. Launched in November 2023, this user-centered app seeks to
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