Imagine an idyllic winter’s day in Jasper National Park. The sun shines as you ski peacefully through the glade of trees, well below treeline and out of harm’s way. As you pass through a small clearing you feel a sudden shift beneath your skis. Maybe, if you’re listening, you’ll hear a rush of air from under the upper layer of snow. The snowpack has just collapsed and, depending on the terrain above you, that simple settling down below might propogate an avalanche high above, where the snow is metres deep and unstable.

Awareness of avalanche risk is something everyone should be concerned with, from the expert backcountry skier who has taken in-field training to the novice recreationist out for a little fresh air. It’s largely this latter group that Parks Canada, Marmot Basin and the Canadian Avalanche Association are trying to reach through two events scheduled to take place later this month.

As part of the Jasper Welcomes Winter festivities, the organizations are combining to provide some basic information for the public about avalanche danger and the options available for training and prevention.

On Saturday, January 14 skiers at Marmot will be treated to live demonstrations of an avalanche dog rescue and may also have the opportunity to see the ski hill’s avalanche control team trigger a slide. There will also be information and equipment on display for the curious. The following evening at the Athabasca Hotel, Parks avalanche expert Grant Statham will be giving a presentation on avalanche monitoring and the information Parks and other agencies provides to the public. Also speaking will be Darien Sillence, the dog handler for Parks’ avalanche response team, and Andre Chablis of Marmot Basin.

“The concept behind the event is to increase the awareness of the general public of avalanche safety,” said Brian Rode, vice president of marketing at Marmot. “The kids love it and the adults love it... its pretty cool stuff.

“What we’re trying to do is two-fold. First of all there’s a reason we have closed areas at the ski area: if it’s closed, you have to respect that closure. Further, this is an opportunity for skiers who are thinking about trying some backcountry skiing ... to just get a feel for what’s involved. This is not a course, this is not an educational thing where we are showing people how to judge avalanche risk.

By heigtening the awareness of the general public we think we can play a role in preventing incidents.”

The demonstrations on Saturday are a good opportunity for people to see how Marmot Basin ensures skier safety, Rode added.

“Even for people who have no plans to venture off the groomed slopes its quite informative and fun. At the top of the Triple Chair they’ll huck some bombs into the North Chutes and, hopefully, trigger an avanlanche and see what we do in the area for avalanche control,” he said.

“A lot of people don’t understand what we do for avalanche control. For example, they ask why the North Chair isnt open yet, well, we had 30 centimetres last night and we’re still working on it.”

The ski hill has been hosting an avalanche awareness session for at least the past six years, according to Rode, who added that people don’t often ski out of bounds or trigger avalanches in the general environs.

“It’s not a big problem but from time to time it happens,” he said. “Someone’s skiing along in the knob area ... they see the closed area and what happens is that someone ducks under the rope because they see the nice snow and they’ll climb up and ski or ride that and that’s what we’re trying to obviously discourage.”

Between the live demonstrations at the hill and the evening presentation in town, Rode believes that it’s a good opportunity for locals and visitors alike to learn more about the dangers of the mountain environment.

“It’s not well-attended enough, it’s a pretty informative thing,” he said.

Rupert Wedgewood, public safety manager for Jasper National Park, said that with advertising and popular culture promoting risk-taking behaviour in the mountains, it is important that everyone is aware of the real dangers involved.

“The people doing the glamourous skiing or snowboarding in videos have very extensive knowledge of the snowpack and of avalanche risk,” he said. “There are a whole spectrum of abilities and understandings out there, and we try to provide information for all of them.”

The primary tool Parks uses to inform the public of current avalanche risk is the system of bulletins available at the information centre and online. Information is collected from three separate areas in order to come up with an assessment of avalanche risk. Park wardens dig into the snowpack in various locations and observe the qualities and characteristics of the snow, but they also rely on reports of avalanche activity from people who travel through the park. Finally, weather patterns and forecasts are also considered. 

“Weather plays a big part,” said Wedgewood. “Both what has happened and what is happening right now.”

Combining all this information and creating an accurate, reliable bulletin requires experience, he said.

“It’s a blend between an art and a science, and that’s where judgement and experience come in.”

The recent weather has made the scientific art of analyzing avalanche risk very difficult.

“It’s an interesting time in the Rockies right now,” Wedgewood said. “Local variation in the snowpack becomes the rule. You can go to one area and dig and it might seem fine but 1,000 feet uphill or 50 metres away it could be completely different.”

Beyond the bulletins, Wedgewood and his colleagues try to attend popular events like ski film screenings and take advantage of occasions like next Sunday to present more detailed information to users. On January 20 Statham will be back to speak for a more experienced audience, including guides, ski hill professionals and Parks staff. Also making a presentation will be Dr Bruce Jamieson, a snow scientist from the University of Calgary.

“We’re designing our program to hit every user level,” said Wedgewood of these more advanced sessions.