Editor:
Re: Why no public at avalanche event? (Oct. 16)
The 2014 International Snow Science Workshop at The Banff Centre was not a private event, and was open to anyone who wished to register. Indeed, over 800 people attended.
While this conference is intended for people who work or study avalanches professionally, anyone with an interest in snow and avalanches is welcome to attend. ISSW 2016 will be held in Breckenridge, Colorado and registration will open next year.
In contrast to Mr. Thomas’s perspective, public engagement in avalanche safety has never been higher than it is today. In fact, several conference presentations spoke to the fact that in today’s social media environment, crowd sourced data is some of the most important information available to avalanche forecasters.
Additionally, registration rates on Avalanche Skills Training courses continue to rise every year, and last winter alone over 7,000 people took an avalanche course in Canada.
The majority of people who travel in the wilderness, like Mr. Thomas, prefer to avoid avalanche prone slopes. This is the only sure way to avoid avalanches.
Certainly the procedure of digging a pit as the sole basis for judging slope safety is considered poor practice. Can you feel the pressure as everyone awaits your decision based on this pit? Don’t set yourself up for this situation.
Good decision making involves bringing together a number of different observations gathered over the day: snowpack layers, weather, terrain, group dynamics, time of day, etc. Everything needs to click together and any doubt is reason enough to avoid an avalanche prone slope.
The “experts” would never call you too conservative for avoiding avalanche prone slopes. Everyone has a different tolerance for risk, and this is a personal matter not to be judged by others. Regardless, avalanches do not discern between experts and amateurs, and most avalanche accidents result from the people, rather than the snow.
Grant Statham,
Chair - International Snow Science Workshop Banff
