Canadian Avalanche Association
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) is a non-profit organization
that promotes avalanche
awareness and safety. The association provides a variety of services:
In addition, the CAA manages the Canadian Avalanche Centre, a national resource for coordinating and delivering public avalanche safety and accident prevention programmes and, most importantly, bulletins on avalanche conditions and ratings.
risk assessment and decision making. It provides a "a simple, systematic way of making decisions in avalanche terrain." The card consists of a grid with the Avalanche Rating on one axis and the Terrain Complexity on the other. The user has to line up the two sets of information to assess the risk and make an informed decision. The card also includes easy accessible information on terrain assessment and safe procedure. The term is a portmanteau of "avalanche" + "evaluator".Over 1400 North American avalanche incidents were studied and avalanche experts were interviewed to form the Avaluator..
The x-axis contains the level of terrain complexity as shown:
The two are lined up on the grid. The range that they fall in determine the risk.
to develop a free iPhone
app that provides real-time avalanche bulletins, weather forecasts, and incident reports.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that promotes avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
awareness and safety. The association provides a variety of services:
- Association Services: Administers CAA programs and assets, provides services to members, manages special projects, encourages research, represents CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to the international avalanche community. - CAA Industry Training Program: ITP offers a full range of training and continuing professional development courses for persons employed or seeking employment in activities where they are required to identify and/or actively manage avalanche hazards. ITP is a private, post-secondaryTertiary educationTertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, university-preparatory school...
training institution registered pursuant to the Private Post-Secondary Education Act in British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and the Private Vocational Schools Act in AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. - Industry Services: Develops national technical standards, provides products and services for private and public sector operations, provides a national forum for issue resolution.
In addition, the CAA manages the Canadian Avalanche Centre, a national resource for coordinating and delivering public avalanche safety and accident prevention programmes and, most importantly, bulletins on avalanche conditions and ratings.
Avalanche Danger Rating
The Canadian Avalanche Association uses the following rating system for avalanche bulletins.| Probability and trigger | Degree and distribution of danger | Recommended action in back country |
|---|---|---|
| Low (green) | Natural avalanches very unlikely. Human triggered avalanches unlikely. Generally stable snow. Isolated areas of instability. | Travel is generally safe. Normal caution advised. |
| Moderate (yellow) | Natural avalanches unlikely. Human triggered avalanches possible. Unstable slabs possible on steep terrain. | Use caution in steeper terrain |
| Considerable (orange) | Natural avalanches possible. Human triggered avalanches probable. Unstable slabs probable on steep terrain. | Be increasingly cautious in steeper terrain. |
| High (red) | Natural and human triggered avalanches likely. Unstable slabs likely on a variety of aspects and slope angles. | Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended. Safest travel on windward ridges of lower angle slopes without steeper terrain above. |
| Extreme (red/black border) | Widespread natural or human triggered avalanches certain. Extremely unstable slabs certain on most aspects and slope angles. Large destructive avalanches possible. | Travel in avalanche terrain should be avoided and travel confined to low angle terrain well away from avalanche path run-outs. |
Avaluator
Avaluator is a card made by the Canadian Avalanche Association to aid avalancheAvalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
risk assessment and decision making. It provides a "a simple, systematic way of making decisions in avalanche terrain." The card consists of a grid with the Avalanche Rating on one axis and the Terrain Complexity on the other. The user has to line up the two sets of information to assess the risk and make an informed decision. The card also includes easy accessible information on terrain assessment and safe procedure. The term is a portmanteau of "avalanche" + "evaluator".Over 1400 North American avalanche incidents were studied and avalanche experts were interviewed to form the Avaluator..
Risk Assessment Grid
The y-axis contains the usual danger scale as shown:| Low | Moderate | Considerable | High | Extreme |
|---|
The x-axis contains the level of terrain complexity as shown:
| Simple | Challenging | Complex |
|---|
The two are lined up on the grid. The range that they fall in determine the risk.
Mobile Bulletins
In 2009 the Canadian Avalanche Centre partnered with Mountain Equipment Coop and the digital agency Idea RebelIdea Rebel
Idea Rebel is a Canadian privately held company, specializing in many areas of digital marketing, including mobile experiences, social media strategies, search and analytics, interface design, usability, and branding....
to develop a free iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
app that provides real-time avalanche bulletins, weather forecasts, and incident reports.