Groups on Slopes and Below Slopes!!

[AvyDaze]

Hi folks,

The conditions that led to the past several accidents in BC are not going away!

We are going into a period where the avalanches will be getting fewer and fewer in frequency but getting generally bigger and more destructive. The bulletin may even go down in danger. Please read the travel advice carefully!!

One thing we have been particularly concerned with at the Avalanche Centre is seeing that there are many reports of accidents involving multiple victims.

A standard basic rule of avalanche terrain is only one person at a time should be exposed to an avalanche slope

PLEASE: IT IS CRITICAL THAT SLEDDERS AVOID GROUPING TOGETHER ON AVALANCHE SLOPES OR BELOW THEM!

If you see other groups not following this advice it is really important that you get the message through. They may be mad at you for a moment, but they will be alive for a lifetime.

Keep safe,

John Kelly,
Operations Manager, Canadian Avalanche Centre

 

[SparkyX670]

I have been sledding in the mountains for 4 years now and I look back at my first trip and think about how little I knew at the time.It was the helpfull advice of other riders along the way and what I have learned from this forum, that drove home the importance to get educated and prepared.I am a lot more concious about where I ride and where my friends are riding now.It should be clear to us all by now that you can be in more danger sitting at the bottom of the hill watching other riders and thinking they are crazy.Think of run out zones as a highway.Would you stop in the middle of the Yellowhead for lunch and to snap a few pictures.No, we wouldn't.But pull over to a safe spot out of the line of fire.Use the terrain to our advantage as a barrier and stop in a safe spot.If you look around they are easy to find.Get the equipment to deal with an avy and know how to use it in the worst case situation.I love riding in the mountains and want to continue doing it, but with a lot of respect.