Another weekend, another avalanche warning
Posted January 25, 2014 9:58 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – There’s another warning from the Canadian Avalanche Centre.
It comes exactly one week after a man was killed in eastern BC.
Every second counts after someone is caught in a slide.
Avalanche forecaster Ilya Storm says if everyone who’s going out into the backcountry is not properly trained in winter rescue techniques it can actually slow things down, like it did last week in Valemount. “That’s part of the story here. There were a lot of people who were suddenly available and without really strong leadership, it’s easy for chaos to ensue.”
He adds everyone going out not only needs an avalanche transceiver, but needs to know how to use it.
Storm also says your odds of survival drop by 80 per cent if you’re not found within ten minutes of burial.
