The briefing is at 7:30 AM. You have fourteen people standing in front of you, skill levels ranging from intermediate to advanced, and a route that crosses below a loaded north-facing slope at 2,400 meters. The avalanche report came out forty minutes ago. The forecast source changed its wind advisory overnight.
Every mountain guide who has run this briefing knows: the quality of your plan documentation is directly proportional to how quickly you can answer the question you didn't anticipate.
The Avalanche Data Is Not Optional
Avalanche Risk, Avalanche Type, and Avalanche Remarks are the three fields that capture the current hazard picture for the planned terrain. The risk level alone — 1 through 5 on the European scale — is insufficient without the avalanche type and the terrain-specific remarks. A Considerable (3) hazard with human-triggered slab avalanches on north-facing slopes above 2,000m is a completely different operational decision than a Considerable hazard with natural storm slab activity.
Avalanche Report Source is the accountability field. In the Alps, SLF (Switzerland), LWD Tirol, MeteoMont (Italy), and Météo-France all publish regional forecasts. For a cross-border tour, you may be pulling from two or three sources. Recording which source you used connects your risk assessment to a specific, verifiable document. If conditions deteriorate mid-tour and a decision is reviewed, the source and timing of your avalanche information is part of the record.
Conditions is where on-the-ground observations supplement the published forecast — recent loading, test slope results, cracking, whumping. The forecast is regional; the conditions field is what you saw at the trailhead and at the first decision point.
Group Skill Level Is the Decision Variable
Number of Pax and Group Skill Level together set the operational envelope. A technically demanding route that's appropriate for a group of six advanced skiers becomes unacceptable for twelve intermediates even if the avalanche and weather conditions are identical. The skill level field forces the pre-tour assessment into a written record rather than a mental assumption.
Guide documents who made the plan — relevant for any post-incident review and for multi-guide operations where one person plans and another leads.
The Weather Forecast Record
Weather Forecast Source and Weather forecast mirror the avalanche documentation structure. In mountain environments where wind loading is the primary driver of new hazard, knowing which weather model you used and what it predicted — versus what actually occurred — is how guide organizations improve their decision-making over a season.
Tour Begin and Tour End are the departure and return window. Combined with Plan Date, they document the planning-to-execution timeline. A plan written at 21:00 the night before based on a forecast that updates at 05:00 may have an outdated weather picture by departure time. The timestamps make that gap visible.
Tour Info — Route, Area, and Route give the three-level geographic context: the narrative description, the area (Chamonix Massif, Silvretta Group, Ötztal Alps), and the specific route name. For SAR coordination if a group is overdue, the route field is the first thing mountain rescue needs.