For the past 60 years, Parks Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces have worked together to run the Avalanche Control Program to monitor and control the 135 avalanche routes within the 40 km section of the National Transportation Corridor at Rogers Pass.
Johan Schleiss, Avalanche Operations Officer for Mt. Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks, was born in Rogers Pass and grew up with the avalanche warning system as a family job.
His father Fred joined them in 1959 and was involved in developing the technical aspect of the avalanche program from the start. Fred was responsible for avalanche operations from 1965-1991 together with his brother, who was deputy commander.
When it was created, the program was used to monitor avalanche activity in the pass. It was then, in the early 1960s, that the Trans Canada Highway was being built and the records made at the time helped plan the avoidance of the avalanche routes and build the roads uncontested by avalanche activity.
Schleiss has been working with the avalanche control team since 1989. The system used today to monitor avalanches is based on the principles of the 1960s. According to Schleiss, only the technology has changed; the system developed at the time is still valid today.
The avalanche team goes into the field and records snow profiles to assess stability. With the test result, they decide when and where the road should be closed and avalanches controlled.
According to Schleiss, safety is the top priority for the avalanche defense team, but maintaining the highways and railways, the nation’s lifeline, is also of crucial importance.
The avalanche control team works hand in hand with the military, who are responsible for firing the howitzers that set off the avalanches.
“Your operational standards are amazing,” said Schleiss about the work of the military on the pass. “You will survive the worst weather and meet avalanche control when necessary, regardless of the outside conditions. It is irreplaceable what they do for us and how they do it. “
The sighting system for the howitzers developed by the avalanche team in the 1960s is used in accordance with the expertise and research of the avalanche team. According to Schleiss, with a reference object they can hit their targets within a radius of 10 meters from a distance of up to 6 km under almost all conditions: darkness, snow or poor visibility.
By predicting avalanches, Schleiss and the rest of the team can effectively control the effects of avalanches on the environment. “The mountains here are very steep, avalanches would fall at some point if they weren’t triggered,” says Schleiss.
The Winter Permit System in Glacier National Park allows ski touring and snowboarding when there is no avalanche prevention.
Avalanche control involves the use of sharp explosives and large howitzer guns, as well as the dangers of the avalanches themselves, and according to Shelley Bird, Public Relations and Communications Officer for Mount Revelstoke & Glacier National Parks, obtaining permits and using the system is essential for recreational access .
“The approval ensures that you understand the system and how it works, and that with that approval you have specific responsibilities,” said Bird. “Everyone with a permit has to check in the morning that the area they want to go to is open, and they are only allowed to go into the areas that are open.”
According to Schleiss, Rogers Pass is a place for advanced hikers. The areas facing the motorway were permanently closed for the entire winter. The permit system enables people to visit these areas, depending on whether they are doing avalanche prevention or not.
According to Schleiss, to stay safe in the area, people should adhere to the system, get to know the area and receive avalanche training for your own safety and to save others.
Day passes can be purchased at the Discovery Center in Glacier National Park. An annual permit is available online at www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/glacier/visit/hiver-winter/ski.
READ MORE: 110 years ago the mountain collapsed at Rogers Pass
READ MORE: Get Annual Winter Permit, says Parks Canada for Rogers Pass users
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