Avalanche Canada is warning backcountry enthusiasts of an early shutdown of its avalanche warning service this spring, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saturday, March 28, will be the final three-day avalanche forecast this season. Gilles Valade, executive director of Avalanche Canada, said the shut-down is about a month earlier than normal.
Valade said since both B.C., and Alberta have declared a state of emergency, the organization doesn’t want to promote recreation in the mountains at this time. “This is clearly not the time for taking any sort of risk,” Valade said.
Valade said the group also relies on data from a network of avalanche professionals across western Canada, but the COVID-19 pandemic has cut off much of that data.