- Date
- Friday, June 7, 2019
- Tagged under
Avalanche Canada recognizes almost 40 years of contributions.
This year, Avalanche Canada was proud to present the Service Award to one of the foremost contributors to public avalanche education in Canada, Gordon Ritchie.
Gordon has been working in the field of avalanche education since 1981. He started as a volunteer with the Canadian Ski Patrol Society at Lake Louise, quickly becoming engaged in avalanche education. He became an instructor for the CSPS’ avalanche training programs in Calgary in 1990 and the following year took over the role of program coordinator for the CSPS’ mountain division. He became the society’s National Avalanche Training Coordinator in 1996.
In 1997, recognizing the need for more structured public avalanche education, Gordon approached the Canadian Avalanche Association to create a new course. The Recreational Avalanche Courses (or RAC) were first unveiled in 1998, setting the foundations for the Avalanche Canada AST courses we teach today. Around that time, he helped launch and deliver the Snowsmart program for school students.
He served on the board of the CAA and has been a board member of the Avalanche Canada Foundation since its founding in 1998, first as treasurer, then as president since 2008.
His legacy in promoting avalanche safety is far reaching, with more than 11,000 students taking an Avalanche Canada AST course last winter, and the importance of the work he has done in this field cannot be overstated.
To recognize Gordon’s enormous contributions to public avalanche safety, we are pleased to announce that the Service Award will be renamed to the Gordon Ritchie Service Award. It will be presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to public avalanche safety in Canada.
