Every winter, backcountry enthusiasts in Canada get caught up in dangerous avalanches that can often be fatal, but this winter mountain lovers have a new tool they can use to assess the risks they’re facing.
In November, Avalanche Canada – a public safety non-profit – launched its Hot Zone reports pilot project. The organization says the reports will provide information on avalanche conditions and provide risk management advice for particular areas in the Renshaw and Kakwa regions of the north Rockies, the Hankin-Evelyn and Telkwa regions of the northwest inland, and the White Pass and Wheaton Valley area in the Yukon.
READ MORE: Avalanche Canada tweaks website to offer more information
The organization says the reports will give information on avalanche conditions and provide risk management advice for particular areas.
“These are for localized areas we haven’t been able to serve before,” Avalanche Canada forecaster Ilya Storm said.
WATCH: Check avalanche rating before heading out, warn rescue crews after B.C.’s first major snowstorm
Backcountry enthusiasts can now share their observations from different areas through the project’s Mountain Information Network. Avalanche Canada says it will use that input combined with data from weather stations and computer models of the snowpack.
In Canada’s last avalanche season, 17 people died, according to Avalanche Canada. Of those, 13 snowmobilers were from Alberta. Avalanche Canada says enrollment in avalanche training is on the rise but there are concerns about the low number of snowmobilers who are signing up.
Watch below: On Dec. 31, 2016, Kristen Robinson filed this report on efforts to recover the body of a snowmobiler killed in a slide near Valemount, B.C.
“Less than 15 per cent of them are snowmobilers,” Avalanche Canada’s Mary Clayton said.”We have a long road (ahead)… to get more snowmobilers to take training.”
-With files from Margeaux Morin.