Hundreds of people in Bow Valley Provincial Park got a chance to learn a few things about staying safe in the backcountry for the sixth annual Avalanche Awareness Day.
The event, held in Kananaskis Country on Sunday, brought exhibitors together with those who love exploring the province’s mountainous regions and helped them learn about the dangers posed to them every day of the season.
Marie-Pierre Chappeland, administrator for Bow Valley Provincial Park, says the event has grown since it was first introduced back in 2013, when only about 150 people took part.
This time, there were several hundred involved.
“We have more exhibitors and definitely more members of the public coming to experience the day and have a chance to practice their skills for backcountry search and rescue, to analyze the snowpack, to practice their beacon skills and have fun at the same time,” Chappeland said.
She’s been seeing a lot more families attend the event lately and says it’s nice to see that interest from younger people.
Karlee Pearson came out to the event to get more awareness of the backcountry as a place to go and enjoy the outdoors.
“I’ve moved to Calgary now and it’s something that I can take advantage of while just being outside.”
She has friends who go out to the backcountry fairly regularly and she’s heard a lot about how fun it is to get out there.
“I thought it would be sweet to get educated.”
Rachel Gabriel just started getting into snowboarding this year and so far, she’s sticking to some regular areas, but wanted to learn more about the backcountry in case she wanted to extend her boundaries.
“I’m just glad that I’ll be able to know some stuff before I go out and be a little more prepared.”
The backcountry has always interested her and now, after spending some time getting educated, she knows that people go out there quite often.
“There’s ways to go out there safely as well. It’s not just crazy people that do it. If you’re prepared, it’s okay.”
For those who are serious about going further in the backcountry, Chappeland recommends they acquire formal safety education.
“This is the first line of defence, you could say. It’s the basic information that you need and we definitely recommend that people take courses through the outdoor companies that exist who will give you an AST 1 or Avalanche Safety Technician 1, which is the ground floor of the education that you need to be safe.”
As well as being informative, the training offered during the day is also amazing, Chappeland says.
“It gets you fascinated by the chemistry and the physics of what goes on in the mountains and how that has a knock-on effect on everything you see around us.”
Some of the exhibitors at the event also spoke about some of the animals who call the area home and shared details about how they can thrive there.
You can always consult Avalanche Canada's website for current conditions.
(With files from Alesia Fieldberg)
