Avalanche control and Road Maintenance up North

On the surface, it may seem that avalanche control is all about making ski slopes safe. That may be the case in ski resorts with alpine terrain, but where avalanche control is the most critical in British Columbia is on its mountain highways. Not only does this require closing sections of road for avalanche danger and control measures, Ministry of Transportation (MOT) teams need to get these roads open to ensure commerce and traffic continues once heavy snows storms have subsided.

Canada’s most infamous stretch mountain road, Rogers Pass, has a long history of avalanche tragedies. In 1910 a group of 58 railroad workers were engulfed in an avalanche while clearing debris from a previous slide. It was the tipping point for the Canadian Pacific (CP) railroad, which resorted to boring an eight-kilometre tunnel through Mount Macdonald to protect the lives of workers and the railroad itself. Today, nearby Revelstoke is the headquarters for the Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) and the Royal Canadian Artillery uses 105mm howitzers to bombard slopes and keep the Trans-Canada Highway open during the winter.

In northern BC, one of the most treacherous roads for avalanche danger is a 65-kilometre stretch of Highway 37A between Stewart and Meziadin Junction, known as “Bear Pass.” The founding of Last Frontier Heliskiing can in fact be traced back to avalanche control operations in this region. In 1969 the Grand Duc Mine, near Stewart, BC required an expert to keep the roads around Stewart safe from avalanches and a Swiss mountain guide named Herb Bleuer was hired for the job, spending many of his non-working hours ski touring in the area. Bleuer went on to have a long heliski guiding career all over the province and in 1996 he recommended Last Frontier founder George Rosset and his partners to explore the areas around Stewart and the Bell 2 Lodge for their heliskiing potential.

Last Frontier Heliskiing’s recreational tenure now encompasses more than 9,500 square kilometres (2.2 million acres) with parts of that tenure running alongside provincial highways. With a strong team of avalanche forecasters at our disposal, much of the field data and slope testing carried out by our team is shared with the CAA, the MOT, Avalanche Canada and Parks Canada through the InfoEx network. Through collaboration and cooperation, private tour companies such as Last Frontier Heliskiing can help make the roads safer for everyone, all while ensuring a safe experience for our guests.

For a look at how BC keeps its highways safe, check out this video by Jordan Manley.