Planning a backcountry day in BC used to mean juggling four or five browser tabs — each showing you something different, none of them designed to talk to each other. The avalanche forecast is on one site. The weather models are somewhere else. Field observations from people in the zone last weekend? Another app entirely.
The tool landscape has gotten better, but also more fragmented. Snow Doctor, SpotWx, Avalanche Canada, Snow-Forecast, Windy, Mountain-Forecast — they all have different strengths, different audiences, and some significant blind spots. This guide is a ground-up comparison of all of them, written specifically for BC backcountry skiers making real terrain decisions.
The short answer: you need Avalanche Canada and one good weather tool at minimum. The rest depends on how deep you want to go. Skip to the Friday-Night Workflow if you just want the recommendation.
Feature Matrix: All Six Tools
Verified May 2026. Features marked with a partial indicator are available in limited form only.
| Feature | Snow Doctor | Avy Canada | SpotWx | Snow‑Forecast | Windy | Mtn‑Forecast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche danger ratings | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Avalanche problems detail | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Field observations (MIN) | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Weather model forecasts | ✓ 5 models | ✕ | ✓ 20+ models | Basic | ✓ | ✓ |
| Backcountry-tuned charts | ✓ 6 charts | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| AI plain-language synthesis | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Audio / Car Mode | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| 7-day weather history (free) | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| 7-day forward forecast (free) | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | Paid only | ✓ | ✓ |
| Personal zone saving + scoring | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Multi-zone regional overview | ✓ | Partial | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Designed for BC / Rockies | ✓ | ✓ | Global | Resort focus | Global | Global |
| Free to use | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Partial | ✓ | ✓ |
Each Tool, Honestly Assessed
Snow Doctor
snowdoctor.ca
Snow Doctor is the only tool that combines avalanche danger, weather models, and field observations in one place — built specifically for BC and Canadian Rockies backcountry. The core output is Doctor's Orders: a structured briefing with named sections that go well beyond a summary. It opens with an Overview and a Confidence Score (1–10 with explicit reasoning about data quality), then moves into Getting the Goods — specific aspect, elevation, and feature recommendations plus what to avoid and why. The Snowpack Layer Cake traces the current pack from surface to base, connecting each layer to the weather event that formed it. Healing or Worsening? projects how incoming weather will interact with existing weaknesses. Tips for the Day Out gives you Watch for / Test / Decide guidance plus five observational questions for the group.
The weather layer runs 5 models (HRDPS at 2.5km resolution, RDPS, GDPS, GFS, and ECMWF) displayed in 6 interactive charts tuned for backcountry decisions — wet-slide windows, freeze-thaw cycles, wind at elevation, fog risk, solar radiation load. The summary table surfaces freezing level, dew point, wind chill, and precipitation with tooltips explaining backcountry relevance for each variable.
Features no other tool offers: 7-day weather history (see what the snowpack actually received, not just what was forecast), Audio / Car Mode — play Doctor's Orders on the drive in with chapter navigation and 1×/1.25×/1.5×/2× speed controls, and My Zones — save your regular terrain (elevation band, aspect, ATES rating) and get it scored against today's conditions in a risk heatmap.
BC/Rockies backcountry skiers who want avy + weather + field obs in one place with AI synthesis
Skiers outside BC/Rockies, or those who need raw model data exports
Avalanche Canada
avalanche.ca
The authoritative source for avalanche forecasts in BC and the Canadian Rockies. Professional certified forecasters produce daily bulletins covering 20+ regions, with danger ratings by elevation band, avalanche problem breakdowns (storm slab, wind slab, persistent weak layers, wet avalanche, cornice), and likelihood/consequence charts. Bulletins are often accompanied by detailed travel advice.
The Mountain Information Network (MIN) — hosted on Avalanche Canada — is the primary platform for field observations in Canada. Anyone can submit snowpack obs, avalanche observations, access notes, and weather reports. The collective intelligence from MIN is irreplaceable for understanding what's actually happening on the ground.
Snow Doctor pulls the full Avalanche Canada API — the same danger ratings, avalanche problem detail, and professional bulletin text that lives on avalanche.ca, alongside the MIN observations. You get all the content in one place, with weather context and AI synthesis layered on top. Avalanche Canada is the upstream source; Snow Doctor is the interface.
Reading the source avalanche bulletins directly, or if you're outside Snow Doctor's supported zones
Weather forecasting, multi-zone comparisons, or historical model data
SpotWx
spotwx.com
SpotWx is a point-forecast tool that exposes raw numerical weather model output for any lat/long you drop a pin on. Drop it on a summit and you get hourly data from 20+ models: HRDPS, RDPS, GDPS, GFS, ECMWF, NAM, ICON, and more. Data goes out to 16 days on the longer-range models. No subscription required.
It's the right tool when you need to compare model agreement on a specific storm system, look at wind direction and speed at a precise summit elevation, or dig into the tabular hourly data. Meteorologists and experienced backcountry planners use it regularly. The learning curve is steep — SpotWx won't tell you what the data means for avalanche conditions.
No avalanche data, no field observations, no historical data, and no backcountry-specific visualisation. But for raw model power and breadth of models, it's unmatched at this price point (free).
Model comparison, precise point forecasts at exact elevations, and multi-model storm tracking for experienced planners
Beginners, avalanche context, field observations, or anyone who needs synthesis rather than raw output
Snow-Forecast.com
snow-forecast.com
Snow-Forecast covers 3,300+ ski resorts worldwide with 6-day forecasts broken into 8-hour periods (AM, PM, night) at three elevation bands: top, mid, and base. It's the global leader for resort-focused snow forecasting and has a large user community submitting eyeball snow depth observations.
The 6-day limit on the free tier (extended forecasts require a paid subscription) is a notable constraint. There is no backcountry zone coverage, no avalanche data, no field observations, and no BC-specific focus. The resort model is well-suited to ski holiday planning but mismatched with backcountry safety decisions.
Resort skiers planning ski holidays, global destinations, and comparing snowfall across multiple resorts
Backcountry terrain decisions, avalanche context, or BC-specific zone planning
Windy
windy.com
Windy's animated global wind and weather map is one of the most visually compelling weather tools ever built. It runs ECMWF and GFS by default, with additional models available. The point-click detail view gives you solid hourly data including wind, precipitation, temperature, freezing level, and cloud cover at a selected location.
Where Windy excels is spatial situational awareness — watching a storm front sweep across a mountain range, comparing wind patterns across ridgelines, or checking a synoptic overview before committing to a destination. The sounding plugin is particularly useful for understanding atmospheric stability.
Windy has no avalanche data, no field observations, and no backcountry-specific interface. It's a general-purpose meteorological tool, not a backcountry planning tool. But as a visual storm-tracking companion to your other tools, it's genuinely excellent.
Visual storm tracking, synoptic overview, and wind pattern analysis across large areas
Avalanche forecasting, field observations, or zone-specific backcountry guidance
Mountain-Forecast.com
mountain-forecast.com
Mountain-Forecast provides simplified summit and mid-mountain forecasts for named peaks worldwide, broken into 3-day and 6-day windows. It's the lowest-barrier entry point for mountain weather — clean, readable, and easy to share with trip partners who aren't used to reading model output.
Coverage is summit-by-summit rather than zone-by-zone, which means it works well for peaks with a name but less well for the unnamed ridges and bowls that define most BC backcountry. Like Snow-Forecast, it's optimised for the "should I climb/ski this mountain?" question, not the "what are the specific avalanche conditions on this aspect at this elevation?" question.
Quick sanity-check on named peak weather, easy sharing with non-technical partners
Unnamed BC backcountry terrain, avalanche context, field observations, or serious storm analysis
The Recommended Planning Workflow
You don't need all six tools. Here's a practical decision stack for a BC backcountry day, from a mid-week check-in to parking lot prep Saturday morning.
Check the regional overview Monday or Tuesday
Snow Doctor updates daily. A two-minute mid-week look at the landing page tells you whether the snowpack trend is building, settling, or cycling — and whether your target zone is worth planning for at all before you invest Friday night in it. Danger ratings, precip loads, and freezing level trends are visible across all zones at a glance.
Regional overview — narrow your zone options
Open Snow Doctor's landing page and scan all active zones. Each card shows the current avalanche danger rating, snow precip for the last/next 48 hours, and max freezing level. In two minutes you can eliminate high-danger zones and narrow to two or three candidates worth investigating.
Read Doctor's Orders — the full briefing
Doctor's Orders is a full structured briefing, not a one-paragraph summary. It covers: an Overview of snowpack evolution and recent weather, a Confidence Score explaining data quality, Getting the Goods (which aspects/elevations/features to target and what to avoid), a Snowpack Layer Cake tracing surface to base, Healing or Worsening projections for incoming weather, and Tips for the Day Out — Watch for / Test / Decide guidance plus five observational questions for your group.
Work through the tabs — avy, weather, and field obs
The Avy tab has its own deep-dive AI analysis: the 3-day danger profile, primary avalanche problems with aspect/elevation detail, snowpack architecture and failure points, a spatial read tied to your zone's specific elevation range, and a probability vs. consequence assessment. The Weather tab shows a 7-day past-week summary (temperature trends, precip load, wind history) and a 48-hour forward forecast — in 5 models with 6 interactive charts. The Field Obs tab synthesises MIN reports: what riders are saying about snow quality, what terrain they're avoiding, and what the real-world snowpack consensus is.
SpotWx if there's a complex storm — optional
If you're watching a storm system approach and want to compare how HRDPS, GFS, and ECMWF handle its timing and intensity across 20+ models, open SpotWx for a raw point-by-point comparison at your planned summit elevation. Useful when there's significant model disagreement and the timing matters.
Ask the Doctor — if anything's still unclear
After reading Doctor's Orders, Ask the Doctor lets you follow up with specific questions — "What's the wind slab risk on northwest aspects above 1900m this afternoon?" or "Is the freeze level staying above the ridge on Saturday?" It answers with the zone's forecast data already in context.
Audio Mode — listen on the way
Switch Snow Doctor to Car Mode and let Doctor's Orders play through your speakers. Chapter navigation, speed controls (1× to 2×), and a dark-mode interface designed for low-light driving. Useful for reviewing your conditions with the whole crew without anyone squinting at a phone.
The Short Version
| Tool | Use it for | Skip it when |
|---|---|---|
| Snow Doctor | Centralised BC/Rockies planning — avy + weather + obs + AI synthesis + car audio | Outside BC/Rockies; raw data exports |
| Avalanche Canada | Official danger rating + full professional bulletin + MIN observations (always use this) | Weather modelling |
| SpotWx | Multi-model comparison, storm timing, raw point forecast at exact elevation | You need synthesis, avy context, or field obs |
| Snow-Forecast | Planning a resort ski holiday, global resort coverage | Any backcountry trip |
| Windy | Synoptic storm visualisation, wind patterns, atmospheric sounding | Zone-specific BC backcountry planning |
| Mountain-Forecast | Quick summit weather check, easy sharing with non-technical partners | Unnamed BC terrain, anything requiring avy data |
Try the All-in-One Stack
Snow Doctor pulls avalanche forecasts, 5-model weather data, and MIN field observations into one app — with AI synthesis and audio for the drive in. Free for all 20+ BC and Rockies zones.
Open Snow Doctor →