There is a landslide of avalanche information from some regions of the province, but not even a flurry in this region - the region with the first avalanche fatality in B.C. this winter.
The Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC) cannot find reliable sources of snow data from the mountains around Prince George, and it is the chronic shortage that puts lives at higher risk compared to neighbouring mountain regions. The CAC's Public Avalanche Warning Service manager Karl Klassen said he's been puzzling with the
problem for years.
"I've been with the avalanche centre since 2005 - the year after it's inception - and it was the discussion back then and it has not changed since then," he said. "The Northern Rockies is a bit of a dead area for us. We get almost no information."
The CAC's website is updated constantly based on weather data, staff research and a great deal of third party information called in to them.
Klassen said some of that was anecdotal evidence provided by snowmobilers and other backcountry users, but most of it and the best of it comes in from committed professionals who are out in the backcountry working for mining firms, forestry companies, government departments, heliskiing operators, etc. They are certified, experienced and highly qualified to assess the avalanche conditions they observe.
Some regions, said Klassen, had 40 to 50 reliable data sources. The Northern Rockies has five or six at best.
"There are lots of eyes and ears and cameras out there, but we need it to be professional-grade information," he said, because the CAC cannot afford to allow misinformation on their part to put the public at risk or undermine their credibility (and hence public
safety).
The bulk of the information from the greater Prince George region comes from CN Rail's trackline assessments and stakeholders along the Highway 16 artery through to Jasper, Klassen explained. The Highway 97 route - towns like Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge, Mackenzie and the Pine Pass - had little or zero data to work with from day to day.
"It is a serious problem," he said.
"We are all working on it. There should be regular, dependable avalanche forecasts for that area. The stakeholders want that, the provincial government wants that, but it is a daunting undertaking. Across the province, thanks to our providers, we are getting millions of dollars of data for free. The CAC just doesn't have the money to pay for that information. So how do we get professional field validation from a place where there are few or no professionals?"
British Columbia typically loses 15 people each year due to avalanches. The winter of 2010-11 saw 11 deaths and 2010-09 had 12 so Klassen was pleased to see recent trends on the lesser side of the average.
With a victim already this season, however, he urged the public to venture into the backcountry with great caution if the body count was to be reduced again this season.
