By Ken Lukawy, National Avalanche Program Coordinator (ken.lukawy@skipatrol.ca)
The new CSP On Patrol Manual has a much revised section on avalanche safety. Appendix C covers the minimum amount of avalanche related information required by a CSP patroller to perform their role as part of a ski centre’s snow safety team.
What this appendix does not do is teach about the avalanche phenomena. There are many other resources available that do a better job than the CSP can do.
The first place to look is the Avalanche Canada website.
- For a quick fix, check out the on-line avalanche tutorial AvySavvy, (English) or Ava Avisé (French)
- For a deeper dive into available online resources, from the Avalanche Canada main page, the “Start Here” tab will open up the world of videos, tutorials and course descriptions.
Backcountry Access has produced a great series of videos and blogs on avalanche safety, with a particular emphasis on companion rescue.
For the snowmobilers among us, Skidoo’s avalanche safety videos are targeted at snowmobilers, but they’re a great resource for anyone heading into the backcountry.
Thinking of taking an Avalanche Skills Training (AST) course? The CSP is licensed by Avalanche Canada as course provider. While the CSP avalanche instructor team is western-Canada based, AST courses are available across the country from other AST course providers.
CSP Mountain Division is organizing an AST 2 course to be held January 29 to February 1, 2022. This is a four-day course, with classroom (either online or in-person) the first day, followed by three days of ski touring in the Rockies north of Lake Louise and Glacier National Park (Rogers Pass) in the Columbia mountains. Cost is $615. Register by December 28, 2021.
For information on:
- any avalanche subject,
- avalanche courses availability or schedules,
- or to register for the AST 2 course,
please contact the CSP’s National Avalanche Program Coordinator Ken Lukawy (ken.lukawy@skipatrol.ca).