measure slope/plan trips on google maps

I've been playing with the program a little bit trying to get the hang of it and its pretty dang cool. I was wondering is there a way to keep a set resolution. For example could I keep all maps at 1:25,000 or is that a little difficult?

Hey All,

I'm testing a new version of hillmap which is mostly a cleaned up ui that should be faster and less buggy and give me a solid base to add new features. I'm hoping it will also work better on tablets and phones as the top bar tabs turn into a drop down for small screen sizes.

I've posted some info on the hillmap blog:

blog.hillmap.com/2012/11/help-test-new-hillmap.html

and there is a preview version of the site at:

beta.hillmap-hdr.appspot.com/

I would love any feedback you all have before I upgrade the main site.

John, sorry I missed your post. Getting an exact scale is hard because of variation in screen and printer resolution and browser rendering. I would really like to be able to use a map tool with the usgs prints but couldn't get the resolution exact enough so I print a custom map tool on the top of each map instead. I could give you more explicit control over the zoom level which should be consistent on the same screen/printer if that would be useful.

From a user suggestion, I also recently started looking into writing or using an existing browser plugin to give better high res printing by taking a screen shot of the entire print window into a (massive) png and that provide a path to get more exact scaling for prints.

Thanks for providing such a fantastic piece of software.

Initial beta comments:
*Couple of slight drop down menu dimensioning issues observed in current build of Chrome, e.g. "overlay on [dropdown]" box on overlays page
*NWS NOHRSC overlays don't seem to work, though mebbe their data server is just down at the moment.
*Menu buttons stay shaded after last click, as opposed to staying shaded for the page one is on... also, the hillmap logo is clickable, but doesn't seem to show anything

Suggestions for new features:
*Integration with UW model forecasts--new snowfall and other relevant weather variables, perhaps get cloud fraction profile in each grid and shade elevations that could be whited out, 10m winds at each level, etc. I'm a grad student in the Atmos department, so I'd be happy to help with figuring out how to get you the data in a usable format
*Overlays for NWAC warning levels based on elevation and aspect--I know they were demoing a beta capability for that on the main NWAC site, but it could be useful to integrate here
*Data along path--page of panel plots that shows route profile at top, along with profiles of meteorological variables, avy hazard, slope angles etc. as a function of distance along the plotted path
*Time estimate--Could be a little over the top and too hard to make accurate to be useful, but could have a feature where you can enter the time along sections of routes you've completed, and derive an estimate of speed over average slope which can be applied to proposed routes. This could then be tied in to the WX forecast, with user choice thresholds for variables like wind, temp, whiteout, etc., where you could put in a planned route and planned start time, and it would flag the points along the route where hazardous conditions could arise (thresholds exceeded) based on predicted time to complete.

Again, thanks for providing this amazing resource to the BC climbing and skiing community.

Hillmap has taken over as my go-to web mapper. thank you so much!

Feedback: I use Opera, and there has been some problems with paths (not as functional as in IE9). These seem to be resolved in the beta.

I love this place, for stuff just like this, I am a tech Luddite, and this type of stuff is akin to PFM in my book. THANKS

*Overlays for NWAC warning levels based on elevation and aspect--I know they were demoing a beta capability for that on the main NWAC site, but it could be useful to integrate here

The overlay feature on the NWAC site ( implemented by someone at Huxley College of the Environment ) isn't really a good idea in practise. ( While I appreciate the efforts to make the forecast more understandable/intuitive, there simply isn't enough data available to transform a synoptic scale forecast into an accurate representation of the current avalanche danger at smaller scales of space/time. )

I don't think this would be a good feature for Hillmap ( or any mapping service for that matter ) because the resulting maps will be highly inaccurate. As most people here undoubtedly know, avalanche danger varies from place-to-place, and over short periods of time, and it's not really possible to create an accurate map of current avalanche danger for a specific place and time without very specific information about the terrain, weather, and snowpack in that specific area.

In theory, it is possible to create an accurate map of the current avalanche danger for a small area, but any such map would be useful only for that area, and probably only for a short period of time. ( Professionals excluded. )

Research by Jamieson et al. already makes this point nicely.

Thanks for the ideas and bug repors guys...detailed reports like these make it so much easier to keep the site in working order.

I'll push a new version to the beta site sometime this week that fixes at least some of these bugs. I'm looking into getting the snow depth models working again as I find that very useful this time of year...they changed their file naming scheme so I need to reverse engineer it again. Until then you can grab the kmz's to view in google earth at www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/earth/

I agree with CookieMonster about the riskiness of the aspect/elevation avi forecast overlays. We also just moved to western montana where the avi forecast isn't that detailed (and doesn't come out every day).

I am thinking about evolving the hillmap slope analysis tool so that the user can specify elevation and or other things as well. My main use for this would be to try to find open clear cuts and burns above the last storms snow line that haven't gotten much sun but it could also be used to make your own highlights from an avi forecast ... it might just make things needlessly confusing though?

I have spent so many hours on this site imagining and planning trips, it is awesome! very cool to know a TAYer made it!