On March 7th, Rowan (13) and I started a three-day Spearhead Traverse; in his fifth season of touring, Rowan has experience with overnight tours, is a strong skier, and we…
The Avalanche Skills Training (AST) Level 1 is the ideal course for new ski tourers and split boarders. With hundreds of enrolments every year in BC, it has become socially…
When things get a little scary, they also get more fun! Up to a point. Some people have trouble knowing where that line lies, but most of us have a…
The weekend is coming up, there’s sun in the forecast, but you have no plans! What are you going to do? The Sea to Sky corridor from North Vancouver to…
Spring has sprung early on Canada’s West Coast. There’s still good ski touring to be had at the alpine elevations, yes. But with snow packs in the valley bottoms quickly…
The art of outdoor photography may have been appropriated by Instagram, smartphones and an endless competition for likes, but coming home from a trip with quality images is still one…
One of the first things that new winter backcountry travellers learn about avalanche education is that it's lifelong. Courses and certificates represent certain milestones, yes. But veteran avalanche forecasters are…
In case you hadn’t noticed, the backcountry is a beautiful place. It can be hard work to get out there and home again, but few people would argue against it…
Whistler and the whole of the Pacific Northwest is rejoicing this week after winter broke down the door with well over a meter of snow on the slopes and more…
Why do so many people with avalanche training end up triggering slides more than a few times in their backcountry careers? It's one of the most perplexing conundrums of avalanche safety, one that boils down to psychology rather than skill or knowledge. Avalanche researchers have termed this effect collectively as "human factors."