Approximately 40 local sledders attended the “Know the Snow” avalanche safety forum, put on by The Crow Snow Riders and Teck Coal, on January 15th at the Lions Pride Hall in Blairmore.
The “sledhead think tank” was developed by Teck in order to address the needs of local backcountry sledding communities, while working toward the shared goal of zero avalanche fatalities.
Blairmore was the fourth and final stop for the initiative, after similar talks were held in Fernie, Sparwood and Elkford earlier that week.
The information was all too timely, as earlier that day, seven skiers were swept away in a Size 2 avalanche at Fernie Alpine Resort.
Ilya Storm of the Canadian Avalanche Centre in Revelstoke, who was part of the rescue team which responded to the avalanche in Fernie, started things off by informing those present of the measures the CAC takes in educating recreational mountain goers in avalanche prevention and awareness.
“Going out in the mountains is what we do as Canadians,” said Storm, making it clear that the CAC does not discourage backcountry recreation. “We know that no one is going to stick to the flats... we just want to try to help people come back.”
At the beginning of the evening, Teck employees handed out information on appropriate gear which sledders should have at all times, how to go about locating someone who has been buried in an avalanche, the North American Avalanche Danger Scale, and Avaluator avalanche accident prevention cards.
“The more you know, the more you can do,” said Storm. “If you don’t know much about the mountains, you should take a more conservative approach.”
Storm said that while it is a large part of avalanche safety, forecasting does not solve every problem.
“It’s a bit of art, a bit of science, a bit of luck, and a lot of figuring out your own risk tolerance,” he said. “Give yourself margin for error. Most people get into trouble when conditions are iffy – that’s where the real challenge lies.”
In addition to working for the CAC’s public forecasting office, Storm teaches avalanche courses to ski patrollers and highway workers, and is also a heli ski guide, and rescue technician.
Following Storm’s presentation, Crowsnest Pass Rescue Chief Michael Taje talked about some of the best options for beacons/GPS locators, and gave away a couple of the units.