Avalanche Awareness week drives home need for the right knowledge and gear
The two charges went off simultaneously, dropping cornices and dumping an avalanche of snow on to the slope below. By the time the echo from the explosion had passed, there were two piles of avalanche debris stretching from the couloirs on either side of Faller’s Rock – the large cliff face that protrudes to skiers left of the Couloir Extreme down Blackcomb’s Chainsaw Ridge.
Members of the media were there Jan. 12 to witness the slide as part of the Canadian Avalanche Association’s annual awareness week. Speakers at the event included Canadian Avalanche Association director Clair Israelson, snowboarder Brian Savard and skier Eric Pehota of the Whistler Freeride Team, avalanche survivor Kathy Podborski, and Justin Trudeau.
Whistler-Blackcomb spends about $300,000 each year to set off avalanches within, and in some cases outside of the ski area boundaries. On a busy avalanche control day, after a snowfall or extreme wind conditions, eight teams could set off up to 140 kilograms of explosives.
They drop bombs from helicopters, hang them over cliffs, string them along on steel cables and launch them from mortars. Patrollers also set off slides by making ski cuts across steep slopes.
With 50 centimetres of snowfall the previous week, followed by high winds, large cornices had formed over Faller’s Rock. "People are walking on them and could fall down into the rocks," says veteran ski patroller and avalanche control co-ordinator Tony Sillinger.
"If there’s even a slight chance that an event could occur, we’ll take care of it. Even though deep down I know that it’s probably not going to happen, we take care of it anyway."
The problem is that avalanche prediction is an imperfect science at best, and requires a certain amount of educated guesswork. You can read avalanche reports, dig a snowpit, analyze snow crystals, make a ski cut and still be a victim. In the backcountry it’s a reality that cost two locals their lives last season.
The first rule of avalanche awareness is that there are no guarantees. Whenever there is a potential for a slide, however low, patrollers err on the side of safety and take whatever measures are necessary. In some cases that means closing areas, while in others it means taking some form of avalanche control.
The ski patrol has a perfect record – no in-bounds avalanche fatalities in the history of Whistler or Blackcomb Mountains. Out of bounds, however, is a different story.
"There’s a significant difference between the backcountry and ski area," says Sillinger. "We strive to keep as much terrain open every day so we max out our terrain through avalanche control techniques. That brings skiers into the area which causes snow compaction and increases stability. There are (snow) layers in the backcountry that don’t exist in the ski area."
This year the major concern is a November freeze, when nearly three weeks of below-zero temperatures turned the early season snowfall to ice. The layers are slowly starting to bond, but the ice layer, at the bottom of the winter’s snowpack, could continue to be a concern through the spring.
In addition to the avalanche control demonstration, the day also featured an avalanche search demonstration using transceivers, probes and shovels, a trained avalanche dog, and a helicopter equipped for long-line rescues.
After lunch, the featured speakers shared their experiences with the assembled media in the hopes that they could inspire backcountry enthusiasts to take courses, carry the right equipment and learn how to use that equipment effectively.
"I didn’t know anything until I got burned in an incident about four years ago," says pro snowboarder Brian Savard. "It happened and a guide I was with ended up being killed.
"Now I prepare myself. I got a second chance, I was woken up. I still take chances, but I’m smarter about it – you have to know the rules before you can break the rules."
Savard says people watching snowboard and ski movies may get the idea that the athletes are taking huge risks. "There’s a message that’s not in the movies, and that’s all the safety that goes into these things. You don’t see the athlete digging a snowpit, or the preparation and support.
"Now I don’t say that’s not going to happen to me. I say it’s going to happen to me, so what am I going to do to prepare for it?"
Big mountain skiing legend Eric Pehota has put in 100 days a year for the last 20 years, many of them in the backcountry. He wants to teach avalanche awareness to kids, to teach them to respect the risk and take the proper precautions before they become the next generation of backcountry users.
"It’s an enjoyable place, the backcountry. The best thing you can do is to get people to think for the best, but prepare for the worst," says Pehota.
Kathy Podborski, wife of Canadian ski legend Steve Podborski, was trapped under two metres of snow for 18 minutes after a slab sheared off in the Bugaboos. She was dragged about 200 metres, but she says she owes her life to the other skiers in her party who had the right knowledge and equipment. Last week was the first time that she had publicly talked about the incident since it occurred in the winter of 1997.
"It all ended well because everyone there went prepared to go into the backcountry," says Podborski. "No one panicked, no one froze and everything turned out fine. We had knowledge, experience, equipment and good judgement."
Justin Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, lost his younger brother Michel to an avalanche in November 1998. Since then both he and his mother have used their family name and fame to spread awareness of avalanche safety.
Ordinarily a private person, Trudeau says there are three reasons why he got involved with avalanche awareness.
"The first is that three years ago I lost my little brother to an avalanche."
Michel and his friends took all the proper precautions before making their decent, and Justin says he understood the risks. "Michel went in knowing what he was getting into. When people don’t know and this happens, there is the real tragedy."
The second reason is that he is passionate about the outdoors and getting people out into Canada’s backcountry to enjoy it – safely.
The third reason is that he is a teacher. "I know how important it is to have the proper tools and knowledge."
According to Canadian Avalanche Association director Clair Israelson, avalanche safety is a $50 million a year industry in Canada, including employment by highways, industrial and recreational sectors. The CAA still operates on a shoestring budget, but he says he can see a day when a daily hotline will exist for people to get the latest qualified information – one of the most important tools in avalanche safety.
Until then he recommends that anyone considering a trip in the background take a course and learn to use the right equipment.
"There are avalanche deaths all across Canada, from Newfoundland, to Quebec, to Ontario. It’s not just a B.C. backcountry problem."
For more information you can visit the CAA website at www.avalanche.ca.
