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Avalanche Safety
MEC and the Canadian Avalanche Centre have joined forces to help you prepare for avalanche terrain and learn more about how to play safe every winter. Find videos, articles, courses and more.
Be Prepared
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Get CAC avalanche bulletins on your iPhone with this free application. |
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Taking an avalanche awareness course from a qualified instructor is the best way to learn safe mountain skills. |
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Check the latest avalanche bulletins from across the country, including the CAC and Parks Canada. |
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We've pulled together some of the best avalanche education videos on YouTube to help you brush up your skills, or nudge you toward taking a skills training course. |
Avalanche Safety Basics
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Safe travel in winter terrain depends on your skill in assessing conditions to prevent accidents. |
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The best strategy for surviving an avalanche is to avoid being caught in one. That being said, you must also be trained to use a tranceiver, probe, and shovel. |
Skills Development
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This interactive course on the CAC site is an excellent introduction to avalanche safety and first response training. It's also a good way to refresh your knowledge before you head out this winter. |
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Being fast with your beacon is not enough. Self rescue may require you to efficiently locate, extricate, treat, and evacuate members of your party who need help. Marc Ledwidge |
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No single test is an ideal indicator of all conditions, but snowpack assessment is an essential tool for evaluating the potential for human triggered avalanches. Bruce Jamieson |
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Snowpack Tests – How To Videos Get tips on how to conduct snow stability tests from Cam Campbell, Public avalanche forecaster for the CAC and Researcher for the University of Calgary. Cam Campbell |
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Preparing for Avalanche Terrain Asking yourself an ordered series of questions can help you collect and review all necessary information and direct you toward a making a "go" or "no go" decision. Colin Zacharias |
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Trip Preparation for Safe Winter Travel Choosing an area with good conditions, and that suits the skills of your group is often better than committing to a destination, then checking out the conditions and terrain. Alan Jones |
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Weather Information for Backcountry Travel Sources for past, current, and forecast weather. Winter Weather Patterns in the Mountains Factors that contribute to mountain conditions. David Jones |
Making Decisions
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Your perception of risk is not always objective. It can be unconsciously influenced by how you feel, your familiarity with the terrain, and who you are with. Ian McCammon |
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Making Decisions in Avalanche Terrain This series of slides tracks the progress of a group of skiers and shows how they make decisions throughout the day. Colin Zacharias |
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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions… A calculated approach to decision making can help you fit together and interpret all information you've collected and assess all of your options. Pascal Haegeli and Grant Statham |