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INTRODUCING THE LYTE PROBE

The Lyte Probe is a smart backcountry ski pole designed for measuring snow. It connects to your to your laptop (mobile app coming soon!) helping you bridge the knowledge gap between pits. Its tough enough to be your ski pole and smart enough to shed light on a variable snowpack.

How should I use it? Dig your pit, take a profile, then take more and compare. Its simple, its easy, and it helps you keep up with conditions as fast as they change.

Are you ready to add this tool to your kit? 

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LYTE PROBE FEATURES

Open Data

We strongly believe that data sourced by the community should always be available to the community when they want it. This means that you can have your data anytime. We strive everyday to make this process as seamless as possible. That’s why we keep our data in a CSV format so pretty much anyone can use it.

Efficient

Typical measurements take less than 45 seconds from removing the basket to viewing snowpack data on your phone. Want to take several readings without your phone in your hand? Leave your phone in your pocket and take all the readings you want, if you are connected to the app then readings are automatically upload as you go.

Rugged

We know your ski poles take a beating. That’s why we designed the Lyte probe to be extremely durable. During the 2016-2017 winter the Lyte probe was tested over 4000 times across the Western United States by nearly 40 different users. Internally we spend quite a bit of time trying to break it in the field. Don’t believe us? Checkout our Instagram for the javelin test.

Cutting-edge

The Lyte Probe is based on dozens of published peer reviewed journal articles. We have spent countless hours reviewing the science to ensure that we are bringing the most up to date information and chasing the best ideas that will help you make better decisions in the backcountry.

Research Ready

Want to do research with Lyte probe? You can have access to any part of the data via the USB connection on top. We have software that enables you to have access to any part of our data at any stage of processing so you always know what data you’re extracting. The software comes with lots of options to change how the probe operates so you can explore your own research questions…not just ours.

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DATA OBSERVATIONS

2-6-2022 Couloir near Capehorn

2022 winter was weird. We had all our snow upfront in late December/early January and then the faucet turned off seemingly until April. Checkout the SWE last year to see what were talking about. We almost had two peaks!     What was amazing about this, is that some of the couloirs we would never […] Read More

1-14-2022 Stable Snow At Mores Creek Summit

In this post we look at what stable snow looks like to the Lyte probe. Mores Creek Summit for those who dont know is a relatively low elevation ski location near Boise. The base elevation around 6000 feet (1850m) above sea level. When we went out, it had been about 8 days since our last […] Read More

2-13-2019 Deep Slabs at Galena Pass

Snowpack in Central Idaho New snow is coming to Idaho and as a result the Sawtooth Avalanche Center is forecasting deep slabs as the primary concern. They are cautioning to “build a healthy safety margin into your travel plans”. This happens here unfortunately, especially on years like this one. Idaho’s snowpack has been relatively shallow […] Read More

8945
Elevation

8Precipitation

36Snow

16Temperature

1-24-2019 Widespread Cracking around Sun Valley

Cracking En Route One of our testers observed widespread cracking around Sun Valley. While he was traveling he noted shooting cracks. Even a week after the most recent loading the snowpack was still showing signs of instability. The snow has been less than bountiful so the current snowpack is composed mostly of two storms. Thin […] Read More

6950
Elevation

0Precipitation

35Snow

23Temperature

1-27-2018 Grain Types in Baldy Side Country

Prominent Crust We headed out with the Sawtooth Avalanche center to do some testing via the side country at Bald Mountain. The Lyte probe picked up a wind/sun crust that really easy to find in our hand hardness profile! The grain type observations showed that this crust had faceted crystals on both sides of the […] Read More

8850
Elevation

0Precipitation

26Snow

1-15-2018 Unstable Snow at Soldier Mountain

 Opening an area for Cat Skiing We joined the Soldier Mountain Cat skiing guides while they were determining the viability of a trip. Opening a designated guiding area requires an immense amount work to make trips as safe as possible. The Soldier Mountain guides had already spent several days trying to cover all of their terrain […] Read More

8300
Elevation

107Snow

14Temperature

ISSW 2017 Paper

Abstract The infrared light spectrum has proven to be an area with great potential for snow science. Most of the work performed to date has been to understand the optical properties of snow and often is convoluted by terms that are not easily understood. Consequently, the research regarding infrared light in snow science is not […] Read More

3-2-2017 New Snow at Bogus Basin

Snow and Rain New snow up at Bogus Basin has fallen on a couple of rain crusts. Whenever snow falls on rain crusts everyone should be concerned about how well that snow is bonding. Bogus snowpacks are always pretty interesting because of how low the surrounding areas are. This snowpack was no different. Metlforms and […] Read More

6340
Elevation

9.4Precipitation

83Snow

29Temperature

1-21-2017 Surprise Weak Layer at Anthony Lakes

Skiing The Unkown I was skiing with my wife through the trees near Anthony Lakes and we came to a steep clearing. It felt ‘avalanchey’ to me, so I took a quick reading with the probe. As I looked at my phone I saw there was a surprise weak layer. This is what I got […] Read More

7160
Elevation

52Snow

25Temperature

1-24-2016 Buried Surface Hoar At Mores Creek

Primed For Problems Mores Creek Summit is a popular backcountry destination for Boise skiers to venture for untouched snow. Unfortunately, Mores Creek is not included in any of the Idaho avalanche centers forecasting areas. A diligent backcountry user will attempt to identify forecasted problems that might appear in the Boise Mountains but knows it may […] Read More

6147
Elevation

0Precipitation

79Snow

27Temperature

2-6-2022 Couloir near Capehorn
1-14-2022 Stable Snow At Mores Creek Summit
2-13-2019 Deep Slabs at Galena Pass
1-24-2019 Widespread Cracking around Sun Valley
1-27-2018 Grain Types in Baldy Side Country
1-15-2018 Unstable Snow at Soldier Mountain
ISSW 2017 Paper
3-2-2017 New Snow at Bogus Basin
1-21-2017 Surprise Weak Layer at Anthony Lakes
1-24-2016 Buried Surface Hoar At Mores Creek
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THE TEAM

Micah Johnson

Micah hails from Baker City, OR. Micah completed his undergrad at University of Alaska, Anchorage. After finishing school, Micah spent time working in Alaska where he harnessed the skills for innovation and idea creation.  He since moved to Boise where he obtained a Masters in Mechanical Engineering at Boise State. During his stay at BSU, he wrote a novel model looking at snow metamorphism. Afterwards He spent a few years working under snow researchers focusing on modeling snow hydrology. Micah loves iterating on the probe and writing software to make it better. You can always find a him with a probe on his desk or in the shop machining new parts.

Micah Johnson

Chief Executive Officer

Adrian Rothenbuhler

Meet Adrian or as we call him the Swiss Lord of Electrons! Adrian performs all of our circuit design and firmware development and does it really well. Adrian received a masters in electrical engineering from Boise State University in 2013 and has lots professional experience as an EE. Adrian started out doing contract work for RAD and it quickly became apparent that our team needed him. Adrian is dedicated to solving problems and works tirelessly on making sure our system is the best.

Adrian Rothenbuhler

Electrical Engineer

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RAD NEWS

Community Driven Tech

Avalanche Level 1

Happy New Year!

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