What are the conditions like? How’s the visibility? Did it snow?
These are commonly asked questions however as most of our riders know the Columbia Valley is vast and with two significant riding areas, Boulder and Frisby, the terrain is almost limitless. Across the valley conditions are variable, it often snows more on the Boulder (north) side of Revelstoke than it does on the south side where RMR’s gnome is located. To help our riders know more before they go, with the assistance of Yamaha, the Yamacam was introduced! At that time the technology required that we have satellite internet, solar panels, a generator (as backup), an inverter etc. This set up takes space! Which is why it had to be located at our Boulder Emergency Cabin. The camera is pointed at a measuring stick across the field to track overall season to date snowfall.
Fast forward to 2022 and the technology has advanced significantly, we can now have a high quality camera that is mounted as a single unit on a tree in a remote location. This remote location still requires that we have cell service (otherwise the set up gets more complex) and includes a solar panel. And so was born the Great Canadian Cam, this snow camera sits on Frisby and overlooks the City of Revelstoke and provides some amazing mountain views. Because it runs entirely remotely and costs very little to run we can still check out conditions even in the summer! Sponsored by Great Canadian Tours, the camera provides not only information on the visibility on Frisby Ridge but also tracks nightly snowfall as it is brushed off by our operators at approximately the same time every evening. The little Prinoth Groomer is about 7 inches tall and is preferred over a measuring stick as the windy conditions would likely blow the snow off the measuring stick.
Now that the club knew the technology and saw the demand for more knowledge of snow conditions, they decided to do something bigger. Revelstoke is legendary for its snowfalls and there are years when even the measuring stick at Boulder Cabin gets buried so we knew if we wanted to create something that would last through the years we needed something even bigger, enter – The YETI. Sourced locally from Roocan Manufacturing the Yeti stands at 12 feet tall and 7 feet wide, it is truly a sight to behold. This yeti was going places, but we didn’t think he would become somewhat of a frequent flyer during the 23/24 season.
We went to work identifying a location far from our regular route on Boulder Mountain and found the perfect spot near an old telephone tower, it had cell service and on a clear day, gorgeous mountain views. Once the location was identified and the yeti complete he was transported to the Glacier Helicopter pad, the closest heli pad to his proposed location. One crisp November morning 3 staff and one volunteer made the 9 minute flight up to the remote location. They brought with them, a variety of tools, including a sleigh for transport. Once the helicopter set them down they worked to find a tree that would support the yeti and an adjacent tree that would support the camera, they had to work fast, the yeti was only 15 minutes behind them and he had to be set down as close as possible to his new location.
Have you ever seen a yeti fly?
Finally, the yeti was in place, we had a great mobile data signal and we were ready to be picked up and watch the snow build from the comfort of the Welcome Centre. The Yeti was hung a couple of feet off the ground so that we didn’t have to make it so tall and it could still measure the snow accurately.
However, did you know that mobile signals can travel with people and their mobile devices? They are often stronger when there are more of them and they originate from a place with a stronger signal. So.. unfortunately we were getting a false positive because we were hanging out with the yeti, and we would get an image here and there for the first few days and then nothing. Once our ridership began their search for the yeti, this improved as they also brought a signal with them on their yeti hunt.
And then.. another unforeseen challenge, with our HUGE snowfall also comes a lot of cloud. So much in fact that the little bit of power needed to take an occasional image was not available by solar panel alone. We experienced this with our Great Canadian Cam as well but were able to reach it regularly by sled to recharge the camera.
The decision was made that the yeti would once again need to be relocated and a group of snowmobilers and staff went to dismantle it and watch it take off once again by heli. For the summer our friend the yeti rests at the Welcome Centre however, come this winter you will be able to find him a little closer to the trails and fully charged, tracking snow and conditions in the season ahead.
This camera will be awaiting a new name and sponsorship this winter for more details, contact revsnowmobileclub@gmail.com.
