S k i

a n d

B a c k c o u n t r y

O p e r a t i o n s

reasoning behind this has been that in a cold,thin snow-
packnot enough skiercompactioncan be guaranteed in
theearlyseasonwhen the skiingwaspoor.Ifan area is
kept closed until more snow arrives and then openedlater
in the season, there is potential fora long term instability
to become buried, only to react laterin the winter. There
have been instancesof avalanchesoccurringeven after ski
compactionhastakenplace,andeach yearisothermal
avalanchesrunat ground level in many heavilycompacted
areas. Deep release events in the mid-winter are not com-
mon but always a concern in areas of less compaction.
Over the past few years we havebegun to re-think tradi-
tionalclosures.Whereas before,a"bufferzone"ofless
seriousterrainonthe edge oftheclosureensuredmost
closure violators would remain away from the main area
of concern, we began to see more and more serious infrac-
tions occurdeep within the closures.This culminated in
several serious avalancheinvolvements in permanent clo-
sureareas.The mostnotableofthesewasthecomplete
burial of a "poacher"resultingfrom the triggering of a deep
instability that had not reacted to explosives a few hours
earlier.Luckily the victimwasrescued with noinjuries,
but this type of event was clearly unacceptable even if it
did occur in a closed area.
More closure signsand a zero-tolerance enforcement
policyhelpedtoapoint.We alsoconsideredopening
someclosureswhenstabilitywasratedGoodorVery
Good,but the riskof aforecasting error,orof atempo-
raryclosurenotbeingrespectedbecausetheslope
would only be open infrequently, seemed to be too high.
In the end, we feel the best way to deal with the situation
is to have these areas fully compacted, resulting in easily
forecastedsurfaceinstabilitiesbeingtheonlyconcern
forthe majorityofthe winterand the areas being open
more often than closed.

Could we do this? Wefelt we could. Based on our expe-
rience with earlyseason ski and snowboard compaction
in ourless serious terrain, we began to experiment work-
ing our normal closure areas a bit more at the beginning of
the winter.We found that with a combination of regular
earlyseason explosiveswork,combinedwithsaturation
bombing usingANFO and handcharges when a bit more
snow blows in,we were able to open several traditionally
closed areas. In the past,the skiing would have been con-
sidered poorat the initial opening,but the new breed of
aggressive skiers and snowboarders jump in regardlessand
are quite effective in compacting the slopes. Although it is
not the firsttime some ofthese areas have been opened,
they are now being opened earlierand more consistently
than in the past.Presently we are slowlyexpanding our
horizons in this regardand are continually reassessing tra-
ditional closures in attempts to open more terrain forour
guests.As a result,we are providing a betterproduct for
ourcustomers,a betterski area formanagement to adver-
tise,an interesting challengeforourstaff and above all,a
saferenvironment.
In conclusion, the evolution of the new avalanchecon-
trol programme at the Lake Louise Ski Area has been an
interesting process,onewhich has taken farlongerthan
initially expected and one which continues to evolve.We
have found itessential that the Snow Safety programme
be efficient, integratedand open to the idea of change so it
canrespondtothe shiftingdemandsofguests,manage-
ment and staff.What has emerged is an operation whose
staff are well-roundedin their skills andflexible inrespond-
ing to the variety of public safety problems faced at one of
Canada's majorski areas.

206