Avalanche & snow safety

Selkirk Mountain Experience is committed to giving its guests an enjoyable skiing holiday while maintaining a safety program that is continuously updated and reviewed to ensure that it keeps up with and exceeds industry standards wherever possible. Although Selkirk Mountain Experience has a comprehensive avalanche and snow safety program, we know that reaching absolute safety in the mountains is impossible. There is an unknown gray zone we can only minimize but not eliminate. This is called the unavoidable risk while seeking adventure in the mountains. Below we have a brief outline of the basics of our safety program. Please call our office to arrange to talk to one of our guides if you have any questions or would like any further information.

All of our lead-guides are professionals and carry certifications from the Canadian Guide Association and also from the Canadian Avalanche Association. Our guides live at the Durrand Glacier Chalet for most of the winter, experiencing the daily changes in the snow-pack and its conditions.

The Durrand Glacier snow observation and weather station includes electronic weather reading instruments, a snow study plot to monitor the various layers in the snow-pack and to make actual tests to monitor the shear value of the different layers in the snow-pack. Further we measure, daily, the overall depth of the snow-pack and how much the snow settles each day. In addition it is important to us to monitor the 12 hour and 24 hour snow-fall and the entire snow-fall of each storm-cycle. This includes procedures in collecting twice daily weather and snow information. In the guide-office we have a direct satellite link to all surrounding helicopter-ski operations, ski-touring operations and the avalanche forecasting office of the Canadian Avalanche Association and the avalanche office at Roger's Pass. Through this system we exchange important observations and database of the snow-pack. Twice daily there are guide meetings, prior to the ski-tours and after the ski-tours. In these meetings the entire planned routes are discussed and each slope is analyzed with the help of detailed area photographs. The guides agree as a group if a slope can be skied or not. In the evening all observations of the day are discussed in detail.

During the ski-tours the guides have ongoing radio-contact with each other to discuss en-route observations. There is constant radio communication with the lodge as well as the outside world. Each guide takes, daily, several snow-stability tests in various elevations and aspects to ensure that he is most familiar with the present snow-pack.

Each guest is assigned a Barryvox Opto 2000 digital avalanche transceiver. Before the first ski-tour of each program all guests are familiarized with the beacon and an avalanche rescue scenario will be practiced. Guests also are assigned a probe and shovel and are given the option of using an ABS avalanche safety back-pack (free of charge). This pack is outfitted with large inflatable airbags which act as a flotation device in case of an avalanche.