A $10 million provincial grant to Avalanche Canada will improve avalanche safety in the Prince George area.
Avalanche Canada communications director Mary Clayton said the funding will see increased avalanche forecasting in the North Rockies area, which stretches from Prince George north to Williston Lake, east to Chetwynd and Grande Cache, and southeast along Highway 16 past McBride.
"Currently we have a North Rockies field team, with members based in Prince George and McBride, which has allowed us to provide a forecast for the region (four times per) week," Clayton said in an email. "Next winter we will provide daily forecasts for the North Rockies region."
The winter of 2020-21 was a deadly one in the region. Two snowmobilers were killed near Pine Lemoray Provincial Park, east of Mackenzie, in separate avalanches on Nov. 28 and Feb. 20. On Feb. 23, a skier was killed in an avalanche near Mount Robson Provincial Park, just outside the North Rockies zone.
Clayton said the Avalanche Canada has just begun to plan how to use the funding, announced by the B.C. government on Monday.
"We are planning to add another field team for north-central B.C., but exactly where has yet to be decided," Clayton said. "Our objective is to provide all our regions with the same level of services; this new provincial funding will go a long way to helping us achieve that goal."
Avalanche Canada is a not-for-profit organization which provides free avalanche forecasts for much of B.C. and Alberta throughout the winter. The organization also offers avalanche awareness and training programs.
Roughly 75 per cent of all Canadian avalanche fatalities occur in B.C. and 90 per cent of Avalanche Canada's operations are in the province, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
"This ensures long-term sustainability for all our programs and allows us to expand our services to underserved regions of the province," Avalanche Canada executive director Gilles Valade said in a press release.
In addition to increased avalanche forecasting, the funding will allow the group to offer more avalanche training programs throughout the province. The provincial funding builds on federal funding announced in 2019, as part of the National Avalanche Strategy.
"The work Avalanche Canada does is vital to our public safety, particularly as interest in winter recreation grows and as the frequency of extreme weather increases due to climate change," Minister Mike Farnworth said in a press release. "I'm pleased we are able to work with this organization to support its important work."
