AdventureSmart is entering it's 10th season of outdoor recreation safety program delivery and community awareness. Each winter season the AdventureSmart presenters reach over 7,000 children with the Snow Safety Education Program alone. If you're interested in hiking, biking, skiing and snowshoeing or caving, boating, climbing and snowmobiling, we have a program for you. We encourage everyone to "get informed & go outdoors", just remember the 3 T's before you do; Trip Planning, Training and the Ten Essentials.
Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) works with Albertans across the province to ensure a balance between the economic, environmental and social values of our province. We fight forest fires, manage fish and wildlife, oversee the development of Alberta's forests, and manage the use of public lands.
The Government of Alberta is one of the Canadian Avalanche Centre’s strongest supporters, allowing us to fulfill our mandate as Canada’s national avalanche public safety organization. Alberta’s avalanche terrain stretches along the spine of the Rocky Mountains, from Jasper in the north, to the central Bighorn area, down to the Crowsnest Pass in the south. All these regions are popular for winter recreation, enjoyed by snowmobilers, ice-climbers and backcountry skiers and snowboarders. Together, the CAC and the Alberta government are working to raise avalanche awareness and increase avalanche education among these users.
Some of our initiatives include working closely with the Alberta Snowmobile Association to reach snowmobilers with our safety messages. The CAC has also established a forecaster in the South Rockies, who supplements our knowledge of the snowpack in that area with first-hand experience. We also host an annual Backcountry Avalanche Workshop in Calgary, which is a unique opportunity for a broad range of recreational users to access some of the best research and new developments in avalanche safety.
Snow avalanches are a common phenomenon in most mountain ranges of British Columbia and forest damage is a natural occurrence. Forest harvesting on steep slopes in areas of high snow supply can create new avalanche start zones. Snow avalanches starting in recently harvested areas can damage new plantations, destroy downslope forest resources, and lead to soil loss and site degradation. Snow avalanches can be triggered by forest workers or winter recreationists in steep cutblocks; that is, in areas that were not prone to avalanching prior to harvest.
Ministry of Forests has produced a handbook that addresses snow and avalanche phenomena in a forestry setting and presents a risk assessment procedure suitable for incorporation in the terrain stability field assessment process. The handbook outlines harvest design and silvicultural strategies to reduce the risk of avalanche damage resulting from forest harvesting. Strategies for managing avalanche risks in winter are presented. An extensive bibliography is included, along with links to relevant publications, data sources, and resources available on the internet.
Snow Avalanche: Management in Forested Terrain
Author(s) or contact(s): P. Weir
Source: Research Branch
Subject: Erosion, Mass Wasting and Landslides
Series: Land Management Handbook
Other details: Published 2002. Hardcopy is available.
The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts has partnered with the CAC to help design Trail Head signs for popular backcountry ski routes and snowmobile areas. The objective of these signs is to help the recreationist have a better understanding of the factors such as current conditions and terrain choices needed for making decisions for safer travel in the backcountry.
British Columbia's provincial highways pass through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world.
At numerous locations in the mountains our highway system is susceptible to the effects of snow avalanches. At the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Avalanche and Weather Programs staff work hard to ensure that motorists can rely on a safe provincial transportation system during the winter months.
The mandate of the Ministry Avalanche Program is to:
BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure avalanche technicians monitor 60 avalanche prone areas using a sophisticated network of electronic weather stations, reports of regional avalanche conditions, avalanche occurrence observations and field snow condition investigations. Eight field avalanche program offices service specific geographic areas. These areas are:
The City of Fernie has committed funding CAC programs for the next 3 years. Specifically, their financial contribution will help enhance the Fernie Youth Avalanche Education Program and other local outreach events.
On October 20, 2003 B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Rich Coleman released the B.C. Public Avalanche Safety Program Review. This document called for the establishment of a national avalanche centre and committed $125,000 annually to fund public avalanche safety initiatives. The B.C. Review has become the road map for the creation of the Canadian Avalanche Centre. In 2008, PEP increased funding to $150,000 yearly to incorporate the North Shore Avalanche Advisory into a CAC forecast region.
Significant contributions of the B.C. Provincial Emergency Program include:
Yukon Territorial Government
