- Date
- Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Two-person Newfoundland & Labrador field team sets stage for avalanche safety program development in province.
Avalanche Canada is proud to announce the creation of its first ever Newfoundland & Labrador field team.
The Newfoundland & Labrador program forms a key part of Avalanche Canada’s national strategy to provide public avalanche safety programs nationwide.
“Avalanche Canada has been engaged in Newfoundland since our inception, but our resources have been extremely limited in the past,” explains Gilles Valade, Executive Director of Avalanche Canada. “Thanks to federal government funding, we are now able to have a team on the ground to lead our efforts in developing a public avalanche safety program for Newfoundland & Labrador.”
Team members are Andy Nichols (right) and Peter Thurlow (left), both based in Rocky Harbour. Each has a strong history of backcountry experience, as well as professional-level avalanche training.
“Having grown up in Deer Lake, it gives me great pleasure to work for Avalanche Canada in developing avalanche safety programs in my home province,” says Nichols, the field team leader. “More and more people are recreating in our mountains each year, and I want to make sure they do so safely.”
Like elsewhere, winter backcountry recreation is growing in Newfoundland. Snowmobiling has long been popular in the province, but riders are increasingly pushing into steeper ground. Backcountry skiing and snowboarding is also growing quickly in popularity. This means many more people recreating in avalanche terrain.
In 2019, Avalanche Canada published maps for the mountains of western Newfoundland using the Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale. The scale rates terrain as either simple, challenging, or complex based on its potential to produce avalanches. These maps are now posted at popular trailheads in the region.
This winter, the team’s focus will be on outreach, education, and developing local partnerships to set the stage for future years. They will be connecting with Parks Canada, First Nations, the Newfoundland & Labrador Snowmobile Federation, guides, outfitters, and other stakeholders. The team will also conduct field observations and, working closely with Avalanche Canada’s forecasting team in BC, will issue warnings about dangerous avalanche conditions when necessary.
All photos by Andy Nichols.