You are given a map like this:

.......S.......
...............
.......^.......
...............
......^.^......
...............

A laser shines from the top S and splits each time it hits a ^, making this:

.......S.......
.......|.......
......|^|......
......|.|......
.....|^|^|.....
.....|.|.|.....

The two lasers in the center of this example merge to count as one laser.

Count how many times lasers hit splitters.

Given input like this:

123 328  51 64 
 45 64  387 23 
  6 98  215 314
*   +   *   +  

Apply the operation in each column then sum the results.