The 2008/09 winter season was a horrible one in BC for avalanche fatalities. An unusual snowpack for much of the season partly to blame. But it was only last April that there was controversy surrounding snowmobile access in the backcountry, due to the high rate of death for snowmobilers compared to other backcountry activities:

Nineteen snowmobilers — all but one of them in B.C. — have died in avalanches in Canada this season [2008/ 09], according to statistics provided by the Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC). The number accounts for 75 per cent of all national backcountry fatalities, which also includes a heli-skier, a mountaineer and four out-of-bounds skiers.

(For more on last season’s controversy, you can read my April 2009 post “Disastrous season puts snowmobilers on the hot seat“)

Here we are less than 1 year later, with the headlines in our local papers reading:

• Province considers new rules for snowmobiles
• B.C. looks at way to prevent snowmobile deaths in wake of Revelstoke tragedy
• Charges possible in fatal slide

I try not to judge, because its always ‘a few bad apples’ who can bring things to a negative light. I also don’t snowmobile, so I’m looking at this from an outsiders perspective without first-hand knowledge of the sport.

But, it was in viewing this video last year that you knew something had to be done:

In that case from last year, the person was lucky to escape alive. On that day, there was a clear avalanche risk forecast of considerable moving to high. The case is similar with the recent Revelstoke incident; known and marked high risk.

Yes, everyone has the right to go out and enjoy the backcountry. Its your own life, risk, etc. But its also the lives of others on the mountain, and those who need to respond to search and rescue calls. Maybe most of those guys had taken an Avalanche Safety Training Course. Maybe they all had probes, transceivers and shovels, and knew how to use them. If they did, that’s great, but its not enough. You need to have the courage to cancel an event due an unfavorable avalanche forecast, and you need to learn from the mistakes of the past.

Tags: Avalanche,Revelstoke
Categories: Safety, Snowmobiling
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- New extreme sport; Skyaking!:

- Island Adventurer posted a series of killer mountain biking vids:

Coastal Crew Ep.1 – Saturday from The Coastal Crew on Vimeo.

- Journey to the Arctic Circle [via @Iamelectro]

- 1 of the seven scariest hikes caught on tape according to Gadling [via Adventure Blog]:

- NBC recently ran a story about the state of BC’s salmon, and the negative impact farmed salmon is having on stocks:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

- Norona Life has a nice video highlighting avalanche safety gear and the very cool ABS airbag :

- Found this on Wend Blog, great footage of one of my favorite places; Yellowstone Park:

Yellowstone from Andrew Curtis on Vimeo.

Tags: Avalanche,Coastal Crew,Salmon,Skyaking,surfing,Yellowstone
Categories: Pics & Vids of the Week
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- Snowboarder Xavier Delarue is lucky to survive this massive avalanche:

- I love free solo climbing videos. Here’s a skyscraper climb via Outside Blog:

- From National Geographic Adventure, this little beauty is called the Whoopy. “An inflatable wing—part balloon, part paraglider—used in skiing or snowboarding to extend jumps, ease landings, and pull off absurd leaps over crevasses and ravines.”:

- From Wend Blog, a video on Parahawking. Yes, Parahawking, which is, well, paragliding with a few hawks thrown into the mix:

- Wend Blog posted this trailer for Rio Breaks. “Part documentary, part surf film”, looks killer:

- Here’s a trailer from the Outside Blog. “Coal Country, a documentary about the battle fought over coal mining in Appalachia, exposes the environmental tragedy and social conflicts that have arisen from mining coal”:

- From the Adventure Blog, a helpful video on how to pack a backpack:

- Can’t embed the flash slideshow, but click here for a photo gallery about an Ocean of Plastic….in Bird’s Guts. “Chris Jordan ‘s work attempts to place the impact of consumerism in perspective. For his latest project he traveled to the Midway Islands, near the heart of the Pacific Trash Gyre , to photograph the decomposed bodies of chicks that have been fed plastic litter by confused parents. “

Tags: Avalanche,Coal Country,Free Solo,Parahawking,Rio Breaks,Snowboarding & Skiing
Categories: Pics & Vids of the Week
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- In follow up to last week’s news on team IDB Adventures summiting Kilimanjaro, here is a video from their blog:

- Insane helmet cam footage of a guy getting buried in an avalanche (he was dug out and survived). You can read the full story of this event here.

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.

- A bear in Japan attacked 9 people at a bus stop before being shot in souvenir shop:

- Just awesome:

- Not sure I’d want to catch this wave, and not sure these surfers did either:

- From Outside Blog, the trail for The Edge of Never “a new film by Peter Schweitzer and William A. Kerig. It’s the true tale of Kye Petersen, the 15-year-old son of Trevor Petersen, an extreme-skiing legend who died on a route in Chamonix, France. Big-mountain skier Glen Plake takes Kye under his wing and trains him to ski the same route his father died on”:

- Also from Outside Blog, the third and final installment of Teva’s The Naturist:

- From Wend Blog, a killer German rap video from some guys who seem to REEAALLLY like bikes. This is strictly a guess, but I’m pretty sure the title Fuss Vom Gas translates to “Not Using Gas”:

Tags: Avalanche,Beaer Attack,Big Wave,Edge of Never,German Rap,IDB Adventures,Kayaking,Naturist,surfing
Categories: Pics & Vids of the Week
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From the Vancouver Sun the other day: BC avalanche deaths trigger calls to regulate snowmobile operators:

A central Interior heli-ski operator is calling on the province to immediately bring in controls over backcountry snowmobilers, saying the large number of deaths on the mountains this past season has hurt B.C.’s international reputation as a safe and desirable outdoor recreation destination.

“It’s not a good image when, in the backcountry, so many people die. It’s not a good image for the province and the industry,” said Mike Wiegele of Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing in the North Thompson Valley.

Nineteen snowmobilers — all but one of them in B.C. — have died in avalanches in Canada this season, according to statistics provided by the Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC). The number accounts for 75 per cent of all national backcountry fatalities, which also includes a heli-skier, a mountaineer and four out-of-bounds skiers.

In several of the snowmobile-related incidents, slides were triggered as a result of highmarking — a deadly practice where riders push their machines as far up a steep slope as possible.

Wiegele said his company has been called to help out in four rescue operations this winter, putting strain on both the business — which attracts about 1,500 mainly international skiers each year — and its employees.

“We have to stop everything, stranding some of our skiers in the mountains to save snowmobilers from themselves,” he said.

He said it’s long overdue for the province to license snowmobilers and regulate the sport, in the same way drivers on the roads are regulated.

“The problem is that snowmobilers can go anywhere, any time, any day — day or night — any place. It’s wild,” Wiegele said.

“The [current] practices are for accidents, not for safety.”

By contrast, he said, heli-ski operators and other backcountry professionals are heavily regulated.

And while operators “don’t have a problem with that,” he said, there is growing sentiment that the rules are being applied unfairly.

“When we first started our business, we had to go through miles of red tape and mountains of safety training … so why are snowmobilers exempt from that?” he asked.

Read the full article:

Tags: Avalanche
Categories: Hiking, Movies & Videos, News, Random or Unrelated, Safety, Snowmobiling, Snowshoeing, Website Updates
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