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Avalanche Risk and Parkland Cross Country Ski Club
Parkland X-C Ski Club takes avalanche occurrences and the risk of those occurrences very seriously. Since the early 1980’s it has been club policy to carry avalanche transceivers (beacons) and shovels on all back country trips where there are not groomed trails. It takes very little snow to bury a person, and since most avalanche victims die of suffocation not injuries, it behooves all back country travelers to be able to get to their friends as soon as possible. It has been shown that there is a 90% survival rate for victims recovered in 15 - 20 minutes or less. Our club policy states that all tour leaders have current first aid training and be trained in the use of the avalanche tranceivers. As a group we attend avalanche seminars and have two members trained by The Canadian Avalanche Association. These two members conduct annual retraining for other members, including locating multiple buried beacons. We also provide training for our skiers in general to acquaint them with the beacons and search procedures. As part of this short course is a basic study of snow dynamics and the setup (natural) that is required to produce avalanche conditions. The courses involve classroom and field trip time.
Links for Avalanche Conditions
Parks Canada Avalanche Terrain Ratings
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/visit7a1_E.asp

Click on the links below (Simple, Challinging, or Complex) to see the Avalanche Terrain Ratings of over 250 of the most popular backcountry ski trails in Banff , Jasper, Waterton Lakes, Kootenay, Glacier, Mount Revelstoke and Yoho National Parks.

Provides excellent and must read information when planning winter travel in the backcountry with numerous links to other vital information sources provided to ensure safe travel in the Mountain National Parks
Simple (Class 1) Exposure to low angle or primarily forrested terrain. May involve avalanche runout zones. No glacier travel.
Challenging (Class 2) Exposure to well-defined avalanche paths, starting zones or terrain traps. Some crevasse hazards on glaciers.
Complex (Class 3) Exposure to multiple overlapping avalanche paths or large expanses of steep, open terrain. Complicated glacier travel.
Canadian Avalanche Association http://www.avalanche.ca Provides avalanche bulletins for Western Canada, the Natioanl Parks and Kananaskis Country in conjunction with Partner Bulletins
Rescue Dynamics Mountain Weather Forecast Links Page
http://www.rescuedynamics.ca/wx/weather.htm		 A huge page of links developed by Rescue Dynamics in Edmonton for avalanche, weather, road conditions and more as produced by Environment Canada, the Canadian Avalanche Association, Parks Canada, the Alberta Government, the Alberta Motor Association and others.
Links for Trail/Snow Conditions
Banff National Park Bow Valley/Canmore/Kananaskis
Jasper National Park Northern Alberta courtesy of Edmonton Nordic
Links for Weather Conditions and Forecasts
Banff by Environment Canada Calgary by Environment Canada
Canmore by Environment Canada Columbia Icefields by The Weather Network

Edmonton by Environment Canada

 Elk Island Park by Environment Canada
Jasper by Environment Canada Kananaskis Country by The Weather Network
Lake Louise by The Weather Network Nakiska Ridgetop by Environment Canada
Nordegg by Environmant Canada Peter Lougheed Provincial Park by The Weather Network
Red Deer by Environment Canada Rocky Mountain House by Environment Canada
Waterton Park by Environment Canada Yoho National Park by Environment Canada
AMA Road Reports® (updated every 30 minutes by the AMA)
Calgary Region Central Alberta Region
Edmonton Region Mountain Park Region
Northern Alberta Region Southern Alberta Region
British Columbia Road Reports by the BC Ministry of Transportation