My story
Why I Built AVY Base
Everyone who ventures into the backcountry knows that safety on the mountain begins with information. When you are planning an outing in the mountains — freeride, ski touring, climbing, or any other activity — the avalanche forecast is your most critical tool. But what do you do when the world's best powder is right in front of you, but vital safety data is scattered across dozens of fragmented websites — or written in a language you don't fully understand?
This exact challenge gave birth to avybase.com.
A discovered truth in the Chamonix backcountry
The idea for AVY Base wasn't born in a corporate office; it was sparked by real-world necessity in the Alps. After spending a lot of time in Chamonix, France, I ran into the same roadblock winter after winter: the most detailed, high-quality local avalanche forecasts were only available in French.
In the mountains, subtle nuances matter. If the specific details of a snowpack layer or complex hazard zones get lost behind a language barrier, it becomes a direct safety risk.
Initially, I solved this problem by building a simple tool for my own personal use to translate the Chamonix area forecasts into English. I quickly realized that I wasn't alone — thousands of riders, skiers, and climbers traveling to the Alps and other mountain ranges worldwide were battling the exact same issue every single day.
Fragmented data, unified in one place
As I began looking deeper into the problem, I made a surprising discovery. While there were excellent local avalanche bulletins available globally, there wasn't a single centralized hub that gathered these forecasts across different countries and continents into one place. The data was completely fragmented, scattered across various local authority websites that were often difficult to navigate.
I decided to change that. I expanded my internal tool into a public platform open to everyone. AVY Base was born from a vision to create a clean, user-friendly, and centralized hub for global avalanche safety information.
To serve as many backcountry enthusiasts as possible, I quickly added full support for French and German alongside the initial English platform. Today, AVY Base brings official avalanche data from multiple continents straight to the user in their own language.
My mission: safer days in the mountains
At the heart of AVY Base is a simple mission: to make the backcountry safer for everyone — from beginner ski tourers to seasoned mountain guides. I want to remove the barriers that stand between people and life-saving information.
During the winter season, the platform updates daily, providing the freshest forecasts exactly when you need them. Beyond just bulletins, my goal is to build AVY Base into an educational center where leading outdoor brands and safety experts can share knowledge, avalanche awareness, and instructional materials directly with an active audience.
Join me in shaping a safer future
The best tools are built together with the community. The easiest way to support this mission is simply to make AVY Base a part of your daily trip planning, share the platform with your friends, and help raise global avalanche awareness.
I am always open to new partnerships, collaborations, and expanding data sources. If you represent an outdoor brand, an industry player, or an organization that wants to be part of making the winter safer, I would love to connect with you.
Stay safe out there, and see you on the mountains!
Ville Strandman / skiwithville.com
Contact & social media
Follow the journey on Instagram: @avybase.app