Alberta passes on upping snowmobile regulations; new icons set to be revealed

EDMONTON — While the federal and British Columbia governments are enacting policies to curb senseless avalanche deaths — like those in eastern B.C. over the weekend — Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said Tuesday his government has no plans to introduce new rules for backcountry snowmobiling.

On the heels of two Alberta men dying Saturday in the massive backcountry snow slide in Revelstoke, B.C., and a corresponding search-and-rescue effort potentially reaching $100,000, federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice is expected to announce in Calgary Wednesday a new continental avalanche-warning system.

An improved North American Avalanche Danger Scale is designed to improve the clarity of warnings to backcountry users so they can better weigh the risks when entering avalanche terrain.

The system, a joint project with parks and rescue organizations in both Canada and the U.S., will provide the first set of international standard icons in avalanche warnings. It is slated to be implemented across North America by next winter, according to federal officials.

Ottawa's announcement follows up on a pledge by the B.C. solicitor general's office to introduce new rules by November 2011 to regulate recreational vehicles in the backcountry in the wake of these most recent avalanche deaths.

Shay Snortland and Kurtis Reynolds died Saturday and dozens of others were injured after a wave of snow swept down Boulder Mountain, located about 400 kilometres west of Calgary.

Stelmach, however, said Tuesday that Alberta has no intentions of regulating backcountry snowmobiling, arguing common sense is more important and that rules would be too onerous to enforce.

"Quite frankly, I don't know how you could monitor and control all the parts of Alberta," Stelmach told reporters in Edmonton. "I know the B.C. solicitor general is going to have a look at it. But you know, there's this balance of common sense and how much of a risk do you take. Certainly, it's tragic."

Hundreds of people on Boulder Mountain had gathered for the Big Iron Shootout, an annual "extreme high-marking" event in which snowmobilers ride their machines as far up a slope as possible. The unsanctioned event has been the source of controversy in the past over concerns of safety and environmental damage.

Parks Canada believes the costs for deploying 12 helicopters and dozens of support staff to rescue the avalanche victims will reach a minimum $75,000, and could possibly hit six figures once all the bills are in.

Yet, controlling access to the backcountry, as B.C. envisions, is "somewhat impractical," Parks Canada officials concede, given the size of mountain parks and the thousands of public entry points.

However, the improved federal system may help to prevent future fatal avalanches.

The current avalanche danger scale is a five-level warning system identifying the likelihood of slides being triggered, their expected size, how widespread the problem, and recommends actions for backcountry travel.

Improvements to the danger scale will include the use of graphic icons, as well as "the incorporation of risk and consequence information into the warnings," according to federal officials.

"This is the most comprehensive and complete avalanche warning system designed to date," Prentice said in a statement. "While we will never completely eliminate the risk, this initiative provides backcountry users with another tool to use in conjunction with specific equipment and training to help minimize those risks."

Questions around the effectiveness of new regulations for snowmobilers were also echoed by other politicians in Alberta.

Deputy Liberal leader, Laurie Blakeman, who served as the executive director of the Alberta Snowmobile Association in the mid-1980s, believes snowmobile clubs should manage safety issues themselves, rather than implement new rules.

"They do a pretty good job of policing their own because of peer pressure. It looks bad on every snowmobiler when something like that happens," said Blakeman, who used to conduct avalanche-training seminars. "They will be trying even harder to make sure that people are educated about avalanches."

Blakeman said B.C. has always had more regulations around snowmobiling because conditions are more prone to avalanches.

With a file from Archie McLean, Edmonton Journal