Maybe we don’t have enough snow for back country adventures yet, but it’s always great to know where you can find important information about how ‘cool’ and dangerous snow can be. First, I’m going to scare you a bit: take a look at these statistics from the Canadian Avalanche Centre.
“There are approximately 150 avalanche fatalities reported every year by the 17 countries that are members of the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR). In the past 30 years, from 1978 to 2007, an average of 11 avalanche fatalities have occurred per year in Canada. This has increased to an average of 14 avalanche fatalities per year in the ten year period, from 1998 to 2007.”
Now you can’t say nobody told you, because I just did. However, none of this means you can’t still enjoy the thrill of the snow. There are many ways to keep yourself protected, such as being aware, knowing the conditions and snow, make sure before you take off somebody always knows where you are going, when you left and planned on being back and don’t forget to register with park staff because failure to return by the time and date shown on the registration card will initiate a search-and-rescue operation. Now if you’re not a big reader, check out this really short video and find much more videos and information at Behind The Lines.
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