B.C. looks at way to prevent snowmobile deaths in wake of Revelstoke tragedy

To see images from the devastating Revelstoke avalanche, click here.

B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed said Monday the province hopes to have a package of policies and regulations for off-road recreational vehicles — including for snowmobiles operating in dangerous avalanche country — by November 2011.

He said the package would deal with issues such as licensing, enforcement, education, as well as ways to prevent a recurrence of Saturday’s tragedy at Boulder Mountain near Revelstoke in which two persons died and 30 others were injured during a known high avalanche risk.

"As you enter one of the trails there is a sign that clearly shows it’s extreme conditions and the avalanche dangers. People that went into the area ignored that warning and they made the decision to actually go in there."

He added "no matter what we do as a province, it’s going to be difficult for us to control and regulate" individuals who ignore such warnings. "People need to make those responsible decisions based on the experts that tell us when, in fact, it is dangerous to go in there."

Heed said he would at least consider options such as closing mountainous areas outright to public access as well as a system of fines or even billing search-and-rescue costs to those individuals who recklessly ignore warnings and put rescuers at risk.

He said if people continue to ignore avalanche warnings "we’ll have to move to a different stage and do whatever we can" to ensure such fatalities do not continue to occur in B.C.

But he stressed: "B.C. has some of the best outdoor activities on Crown land. We want people to enjoy those lands and to enjoy them responsibly.

"We don’t want to prohibit…that recreational activity. We want to make sure we have proper processes, regulations, and prevention in place to prevent incidents such as this tragedy on the weekend."

Heed said the coroner and RCMP continue to investigate the deaths, including those who may have been responsible for organizing the event.

The executive director of the B.C. Snowmobile Federation said snowmobilers have a personal right to ignore avalanche warnings and shouldn’t be subject to more regulation.

"Right now it’s personal choice," Les Austin said in an interview from Revelstoke. "I don’t believe there needs to be greater regulation. We need greater education and stuff like that so people can make better-informed decisions. That doesn’t happen overnight."

Karl Klassen, public avalanche bulletins manager for the Canadian Avalanche Centre, said that within the past month, a snowmobiler broke his back during another avalanche at Boulder Mountain and was flown out by helicopter for medical treatment.

"It’s not a slope that is benign by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "Local people who have sledded here for a long time know that slope produces avalanches."

A coroner’s service review panel report in December 2009 into 19 snowmobile deaths – including eight men from Sparwood who went into the backcountry despite a "considerable risk" of avalanche — made 15 recommendations. They ranged from the need for avalanche training specific to snowmobiles to educational materials to improved signage.

The Canadian Avalanche Centre published a report in 2009 entitled The Year of Sledding Dangerously in which operations manager John Kelly expressed his extreme frustration with a segment of the snowmobiling community that ignores avalanche warnings.

Kelly concluded in his report: "We do feel an appetite for action from our connections within government and from the public at large.

"So we can say one thing for certain — change will come in some form. I think we know enough about the prevailing societal mood to know that if change does not come through stakeholder and community action, it will be imposed by the public interest."

Klassen confirmed it is frustrating to see people continue to put themselves — and those who would rescue them — at risk.

While he cannot say whether all snowmobilers, including families with children, fully appreciated the avalanche risk Saturday, he can say that it is everyone’s responsibility to be informed about conditions before heading out into the backcountry.

"Certainly for those of us who are aware it seems patently obvious."

He added it can be difficult to get the message out to people who have never experienced the fury of an avalanche.

"It’s not real until it actually happens, even for people highly educated about avalanches and highly aware. I’ve heard many many times, ‘I know you taught me in class, I know you showed me pictures and videos, but when that thing hit me, I could not believe it, how powerful it was, how difficult it was to escape, and how helpless I was when I was caught in it.’"

Klassen said the centre does not take a position on regulations, but did stress the need to make a connection with those groups — snowmobilers or skiers — taking the greatest risk.

"There is work to be done on increasing the culture of awareness among certain user groups that go into the backcountry. With the snowmobiling crowd, figure out what’s the language, what’s the terminology, what kind of message will they actually listen to."

Regardless of the level of avalanche warning, a snowmobiler travelling fast and far on a heavy machine is at greater risk of causing an avalanche than a backcountry skier.

"Snowmobilers are out there being exposed to more terrain more often than skiers," Klassen said.

Austin said his federation is a member of the Canadian Avalanche Centre and has worked hard to educate B.C.’s 130,000 snowmobilers about avalanche hazards.

"We’re doing everything we can possibly do to provide as much educational outreach material for people," he said. "We’re stepping it up as much as we possibly can."

Austin noted that more sledders are taking avalanche training and have the rescue gear, although a certain percentage still ignore the warnings.

Of Saturday’s event, he said: "Every one of them made that personal choice. These are all personal decisions people made to go to something like that. The warnings were definitely up.

"If I go riding with my friends I make sure they’ve all got the [avalanche rescue] equipment and know how to use it. It’s my decision if I climb the hill or do whatever. It’s their personal decision to do the same."

And what of the time, cost and personal risk associated with rescue efforts for snowmobilers who get into trouble after ignoring avalanche warnings?

"You’re right," he said. "We appreciate all the rescue efforts because without all those people this thing could have been worse than it was."

lpynn@vancouversun.com

To see images from the devastating Revelstoke avalanche, click here.