Government of Canada Announces Initiatives to Improve Avalanche Safety

News release

Brent Kozachenko & Edwin Knox Digging a pit to assess avalanche hazard
Parks Canada photo

Today, on behalf of the Honourable Peter Kent, Canada’s Environment Minister and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, Michelle Rempel, Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre-North and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment, announced the implementation of a new standardized format for public avalanche bulletins. The Parks Canada-led project will help backcountry users make informed decisions when entering avalanche terrain.

“We share the objective of minimizing the number of avalanche fatalities and to improve the experience of those who use the backcountry,” said Michelle Rempel. “Through our joint efforts and cooperative initiatives, Canada is solidifying its position as a world leader in avalanche education, awareness and safety.”

www.avalanche.ca

Brent Kozachenko snow testing
for avalanche risk 
Parks Canada photo

The project to implement improvements to public avalanche bulletins takes advantage of the latest developments in technology, avalanche forecasting, and risk communication theory. The new avalanche bulletin structure will significantly reduce the amount of text, incorporate graphics and improvements resulting from the recently revised North American Avalanche Danger Scale (a Parks Canada-led initiative announced in 2010). The new format will be accessible for mobile and Smartphone applications. Parks Canada and the Canadian Avalanche Centre will begin using the new format in November 2011.

MP Michelle Rempel also announced that the Government of Canada is renewing its commitment to the Canadian Avalanche Centre with $400,000 in funding from Parks Canada over the next four years and $225,000 from Meteorological Service Canada over the next three years to continue to develop and deliver public avalanche safety programs and services.
“While we will never completely eliminate the risk, our Government – along with our partners – seeks to provide backcountry users with information that could ultimately save their lives,” added Minister Kent.

New Avalanche Bulletin System to launch in November

Sample avalanche
report

As a recognized world leader in backcountry avalanche awareness and safety, Parks Canada operates a full-service avalanche risk control program in the mountain parks and spends approximately $1.7 million annually on avalanche-related activities in Western Canada, including highway avalanche control, a 24/7 capacity search and rescue program, and regular avalanche bulletins in both official languages.

During avalanche season, Parks Canada produces daily public avalanche bulletins for Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay, Glacier national parks and twice weekly in Waterton Lakes National Park. Avalanche bulletins are among the most visited pages on Parks Canada’s website (www.parkscanada.gc.ca). In addition, the bulletins are shared with the Canadian Avalanche Centre, Canada’s national public avalanche safety organization, and made available to the public on its website (www.avalanche.ca).

A Parks Canada-led project to re-design and implement improvements to public avalanche bulletins takes advantage of the latest developments in technology, avalanche forecasting, and risk communication theory. The new avalanche bulletin structure significantly reduces the amount of text, incorporate graphics and incorporate improvements resulting from the recently revised North American Avalanche Danger Scale (a Parks Canada-led initiative announced in 2010).

In addition, the new avalanche bulletins will be designed to better serve a broader audience by facilitating access using new smart phone technology and social media.

Parks Canada and the Canadian Avalanche Centre will begin using the new format in November 2011, with other jurisdictions to follow.

Background:

While there is an inherent degree of risk that cannot be eliminated with respect to avalanche activity, Parks Canada’s overall objective is to develop and implement a comprehensive program so that visitors can safely use and enjoy the backcountry.
Each year, a tragic number of avalanche fatalities take place in Canada. In the 2002/2003 winter season, eight fatalities occurred within national parks, including seven Calgary-area students while backcountry skiing at Mt. Cheops in Glacier National Park.

In April 2003, Parks Canada announced an independent panel of experts to review winter backcountry risk in the mountain national parks. The report resulted in 36 recommendations, which were accepted by Parks Canada. These 36 recommendations marked a starting point for Parks Canada to make fundamental improvements to public avalanche safety in Canada.
In November 2004, Parks Canada unveiled a new avalanche terrain rating system for 250 backcountry areas commonly used by the public in the mountain national parks. The first of its kind in the world, the system provides clear-cut criteria for the public to determine where it is safe to ski. This terrain rating system is now used throughout Canada and the rest of the world.

New policies were introduced for custodial groups planning backcountry travel in the mountain national parks requiring groups such as schools to utilize the services of a certified guide when travelling in high-risk areas of the backcountry. This new standard of care encourages custodial groups to travel in suitable locations of the mountain parks with appropriate leadership and prevention awareness training.

Parks Canada also developed school outreach programs targeting students living in mountain communities, where avalanche safety needs to be a regular part of life. The Parks Canada Avi smart program began in Banff and Canmore in 2006, featuring participation from 29 Grade 7-10 classes totalling 640 students. Working in partnership with the Canadian Avalanche Centre, the program has since expanded to schools in Revelstoke, Golden, Invermere and Pincher Creek, reaching more than 1,500 students a year.

Through these efforts, Parks Canada is making important improvements to public safety in the backcountry and helping to minimize avalanche fatalities.

Parks Canada and the Canadian Avalanche Centre have collaborated on a number of other initiatives, including the development of an easy to understand, icon-based public warning system, which provides basic graphic warning indication of avalanche conditions. These icons are now an international standard used by countries around the world. Parks Canada and the Canadian Avalanche Centre have also collaborated on The Avaluator, a science-based decision-making tool for travel in avalanche terrain.

Most recently, with the participation of the Canadian Avalanche Centre, the National Search and Rescue Secretariat, United States Forest Service and the Colorado Avalanche Information Centre, Parks Canada led the development of a new North American Avalanche Danger Scale. The new scale, introduced in 2010, established a single North American standard for avalanche warning systems and utilized the icon-based warning system, thereby helping backcountry users make better risk-decisions when entering avalanche terrain. The improved scale improves the clarity and utility of how avalanche danger and risk is communicated to the public.

Through cooperative efforts with Parks Canada partners like the Canadian Avalanche Centre, improvements to public safety are being achieved not only in the national parks, but also throughout Canada and around the world. A number of these Canadian-born initiatives are being implemented internationally, including in the United States, Switzerland, Norway, France, Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, and Japan.

For more information on Parks Canada’s backcountry safety initiatives, please visit parkscanada.gc.ca.