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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

2023-03-11 SMP Comparison

The Lyte probe journeyed to Alaska’s North Slope as part of the NASA SnowEx Arctic spring campaign. During this campaign, the Lyte probe was deployed alongside the SnowMicroPen (SMP), a highly regarded Swiss instrument renowned as the gold standard for snow penetrometers due to its exceptional sensitivity and precision. The SMP utilizes a motor and […] Read More

2022-02-13 Widespread Avalanches in Kaslo B.C.

We ventured to Kaslo British Columbia and arrived during the tail end of a challenging avalanche cycle. The warming weather conditions had triggered widespread failures on the buried surface hoar in the region. The local forecasters had identified the avalanche problems as stemming from a persistent weak layer and the occurrence of wet loose avalanches. […] Read More

2022-02-06 Couloir in Central ID

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

2022-01-14 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

2019-02-13 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

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2019-01-24 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

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2018-01-27 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

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2017-01-21 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

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2023-03-11 SMP Comparison
2022-02-13 Widespread Avalanches in Kaslo B.C.
2022-02-06 Couloir in Central ID
2022-01-14 Stable Snow At Mores Creek Summit
2019-02-13 Deep Slabs at Galena Pass
2019-01-24 Widespread Cracking around Sun Valley
2018-01-27 Grain Types in Baldy Side Country
2017-01-21 Surprise Weak Layer at Anthony Lakes
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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

attendees of ISSW outside due to power outage

ISSW Bend Oregon 2023

Brooks Range on the North Slope of Alaska

SnowEx Arctic Campaign

SnowEx Hackweek Presentation

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INSTAGRAM GALLERY