Directors

Most of the CAF Board of Directors are senior members of the avalanche community who's life work has been directly tied to minimizing snow avalanche hazards.  Avalanche tragedy has personally affected all of our Directors, with the loss of family members or friends in snow avalanches.

 

The Directors are:
		President, Gordon Ritchie Gordon is the National Avalanche Advisor for the Canadian Ski Patrol System (CSPS), a national volunteer organization which provides rescue services at ski areas across Canada. Gordon has worked in the petroleum and natural gas industry for 30 years. He holds a B.Sc in Engineering and a M.Sc. in Economics.
		Vice President Jack Bennetto Jack has been involved in the delivery of avalanche safety programs on a full time basis for more than 25 years, including helicopter ski operations and managing the program for the BC provincial highway network. Jack is Past President of the Canadian Avalanche Association.
		Secretary/Treasurer Ken Little Ken comes to the CAF following retirement from the Meteorological Service of Canada. His association with the snow avalanche community dates back to the 1980s, when his duties included mountain weather forecasting for Parks Canada. Prior to his retirement from MSC's Mountain Weather Centre, Ken led the federal government's operational meteorological support program for the Canadian Avalanche Centre.
		Past President Chris Stethem Chris is President of Chris Stethem & Associates Ltd., Snow Safety Services, a consulting company specializing in avalanche protection and snow management. Chris is Past President of the Canadian Avalanche Association.
		Director Colin Johnston Colin is Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering and an Affiliate Member of the Canadian Avalanche Association. He directed the ongoing avalanche research program af the University of Calgary from its inception in 1986 until her retired in 1998.
		Director David G. Thompson David received a B.Comm. (1979) and LLB (1983) from the University of British Columbia.  He is a governor of the Canadian Tax Foundation. David is also a member of the Planned Giving Committee of the BC Children's Hospital Foundation and the Vice President of the Deep Cove Action Committee.
		Morgan Hincks Morgan became involved with the CAF as a result of a tragic avalanche accident that killed her parents in Austria on January 22, 2005. She along with her brother’s Teddy and Daniel Hincks established the Hugh & Helen Hincks Memorial Fund in their parent’s honour to further public avalanche safety initiatives, research and education. Morgan is the President of Morgan Lee Events; a Calgary based event planning company and holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Victoria.
		John Tweedy John Tweedy has been involved in the avalanche industry for 35 years as a working forecaster in the transportation, ski resort sectors of the industry as well as an educator in avalanche safety. He is a charter member of the Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) and has served as a past director, secretary-treasurer, explosives committee chair and on the technical committee of the CAA. He looks forward in his pending retirement of assisting the CAF in their mandate.
		John Hetherington John is a long-time resident of Whistler, British Columbia.  He has been a Whistler Mountain ski patrolman, a member of Whistler’s first town council, a former part owner of Whistler Heli-Skiing, a heliski guide for twenty-three years, and has just finished a six-year term on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Avalanche Association and Canadian Avalanche Centre.
		Kevin Williams A passionate back country skier and ski mountaineer, Kevin has been involved in avalanche science, rescue and education since the early 1980s. As a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol System, he patrolled and was involved in avalanche work at Lake Louise, Fernie and Whistler. He was instrumental in the early development of the Avalanche Skills Training (AST) education program. Kevin holds a B.Eng and M.Sc (Geophysics) from McGill University and was a PhD candidate in avalanche research at UBC. He works in oil and gas exploration and is based in Calgary.