Avalanche News Stories - 2022

December 07 , 2022 - Report released on avalanche control helicopter crash

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released a seven-page report Nov. 2 on the March 16 tail rotor strike and roll over of an Airbus Helicopters AS350 B3 helicopter in the Kootenay Valley, 35 NM north of Nelson. The report points to the cumulative effects of weather in the mishap. More ...

November 29 , 2022 - "The Snow War" (1979) Digitized by NFB of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada’s Collection Curator recently digitized The Snow War, a film directed by Harold Tichenor in 1979, depicting the efforts of a mobile avalanche-control team to keep open the important Rogers Pass, situated in Glacier National Park, nestled in between Revelstoke and Golden. (A link to the video is included in the article.) More ...

September 23 , 2022 - Avalanche-monitoring radar set up in Sikkim along LAC

The first avalanche monitoring radar has been installed at a forward post in north Sikkim along the boundary with China. Located at an altitude of 15,000 ft, the radar, the first of its kind in India, has the capability to detect an avalanche within three seconds of its trigger and will assist in saving lives of troops and reducing damage to property. More ...

August 11, 2022 - PIEPS and Black Diamond avalanche transceivers recalled

Black Diamond Equipment of Salt Lake City, Utah, is recalling about 87,600 avalanche transceivers sold in the U.S. and Canada. This recall involves the PIEPS Pro BT, Powder BT, DSP Sport, DSP Pro, DSP Pro Ice, Micro BT Button, Micro BT Sensor, and Micro BT Race avalanche transceivers and the Black Diamond branded Recon BT and Guide BT avalanche transceivers. Pieps DSP Sport, DSP Pro, and DSP Pro Ice avalanche transceivers were previously recalled in 2021. The transceivers may not switch from SEND mode into SEARCH mode. No injuries have been reported. More ...

January 21, 2022 - New simulations can improve avalanche forecasting

Computer simulations of snow cover can accurately forecast avalanche hazard, according to a new study from Simon Fraser University. Currently, avalanche forecasts in Canada are made by professionals who rely on data from local weather stations and observations. But simulated snow cover models developed by a team of researchers are able detect and track weak layers of snow and identify avalanche hazard in a completely different way—and can provide forecasters with another reliable tool when local data is insufficient or not available. More ...

January 19, 2022 - 60 passengers stuck due to avalanches rescued

The police and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) rescued 60 passengers in the Lahaul valley in India last night. They were stuck on the Manali-Keylong highway due to avalanches. Those stranded were 35 men, 19 women and six children. The first avalanche occurred 27 km away from Keylong and the second avalanche was 12 km away from the town. Two more avalanches happened and five vehicles, carrying 60 passengers, were stuck due to the blockade of the road on both sides.” More ...

January 1, 2022 - Helicopter deployed to rescue father and son trapped in snow in Taplejung

It has been demonstrated that the +1.5°C increase in temperature in the Vosges Mountains that occurred between the middle of the 19th century and the beginning of the twentieth (marking the end of what is known as the Little Ice Age) led to a sevenfold reduction in the average number of avalanches per path each winter across the range as a whole. The average size of avalanches went down significantly while the length of the avalanche season was also reduced. More ...