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2025 Archive Index - All Editions

In This Edition:

Centuries of avalanche fatalities in Canada online

Avalanche Canada has launched a new Fatal Avalanche Incidents database. It features an interactive map showing hundreds of records of deaths from avalanches across Canada, dating back to 1782. The majority of the incidents were in British Columbia, though there are also records from Yukon, Nunavut, Ontario and Atlantic Canada. Many of the earlier recorded avalanche disasters were related to industries like mining or railways, but improved worker protections and infrastructure mean there have been far fewer work-site avalanche deaths in recent decades. Nearly all avalanche deaths over the past four decades were related to recreational activities in the backcountry.
Source ... (am1150)

Inside Canada’s avalanche rescue dog program

Certified avalanche dogs can detect human scents through snow, separating them from the cacophony of odours from nearby search and rescue crews. The canines are trained by their owners to stay calm and focused amid mayhem, often travelling by helicopter, sometimes hanging by long-line, to reach terrain too complicated for a landing. “We currently have just shy of 30 operational avalanche dogs and another half dozen in the training pipeline,” says Kyle Hale, president of the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association, the national not-for-profit organization responsible for training dogs and handlers for avalanche search and rescue across Canada.

Each spring, CARDA hosts a training weekend to assess new recruits and sharpen the skills of returning teams. Aspiring avalanche canines are initially assessed for entry into the nearly two-year program and mid-level trainees build endurance and learn new skills. Veteran avalanche dog teams also attend the training weekend to refine their techniques and reconnect after busy winter seasons. In May, some 25 handlers (and about as many dogs) from across Western Canada congregate for the weekend at an off-grid camping site outside Merritt, B.C. Plus one journalist and her tent.
More ... (Canadian Geographic)

Ski Area Avalanches in Minnesota and New York

Avalanches aren’t a threat to skiers at Wild Mountain, Minnesota, but as the ski area reported over the weekend, they can happen when conditions align. An avalanche occurred on ‘The Wall,’ the ski area’s only double-black diamond trail, on December 14, 2025. Wild Mountain posted an aerial photo of the avalanche debris with an explanation of how the slide occurred. It was all snowmaking. “One of the snowmaking piles collapsed and slid down the face,” writes Wild Mountain. Wild Mountain clarified that The Wall was closed when the avalanche occurred, most likely for snowmaking efforts, and reminded their guests to abide by all trail closures for their safety. “It’s a good reminder to always stay off closed terrain,” the ski area wrote.

Another small avalanche occurred on December 15, 2025, at Holiday Valley in Western New York. The trail name? The Wall. According to Snowology Weather & News, the avalanche occurred due to natural snowfall, and the trail, also known as The Wall, was closed at the time of the slide. The Wall at Holiday Valley runs directly beneath the Snowpine Quad chairlift. The trail reportedly holds a 40-degree pitch for a small section, which is steep enough for an avalanche to occur. The ski area has recorded close to 20 inches of snow in the last five days.

So, two avalanches occurred within two days, both on trails named The Wall, at ski areas in Minnesota and New York. What a weird winter, indeed.
Source ... (Powder)

Sub-Rayleigh to supershear fracture transition in snow avalanche

Snow slab avalanches occur when a crack propagates within a highly porous weak snow layer buried beneath a cohesive snow slab. Here, we report direct observations of a supershear event in snow fracture experiments following the spontaneous transition from sub-Rayleigh to intersonic crack propagation. The experiments involve artificially triggered avalanches on a small slope with a natural snowpack, captured with high-speed cameras and analyzed using digital image correlation. Deformation fields reveal distinct signatures: slope-normal collapse of the weak layer and slab flexure drive sub-Rayleigh propagation, while supershear fracture is related to slope-parallel deformation and slab tension. These results are further reinforced by numerical simulations that replicate the experiment and provide strong supporting evidence that the Burridge-Andrews mechanism governs the transition to supershear propagation. Analogous to supershear strike-slip earthquakes linked with substantial magnitudes, our findings suggest that supershear avalanches relate to widespread crack propagation and large avalanche dimensions, holding significant implications for risk mitigation strategies.
Source ... (Nature)

Súðavík avalanche report: Inadequate monitoring and low interest

The report by Icelands Alþingi’s investigative committee on the avalanches in Súðavík has been published. An avalanche struck Súðavík on 16 January 1995. Fourteen people were killed in the avalanche, including eight children. Snow monitoring was inadequate and there seemed to be little interest in avalanche defences in Súðavík before the avalanches of 1995. This is stated in the report. Finnur Þór Vilhjálmsson, chair of the investigative committee, said at the start of the presentation that a long time had passed since the events and that this had affected the investigation. Various people who had been central to the events were deceased and unable to give accounts. Emphasis was therefore placed on written documentation.

In the committee’s investigation, various issues emerged regarding the status and progress of avalanche protection matters in Iceland. It is stated that it was not possible to examine Súðavík and the avalanches there in isolation, as information about other locations also needed to be taken into account. The report’s findings state that avalanche monitoring was inadequate in many places in Iceland. At the beginning of the work of the Ofanflóðanefnd (Avalanche Protection Committee) in 1985, clear views were expressed at committee meetings that the state of snow monitoring and the recording of avalanches was not good in the country in general.

The source article is lengthy and goes into great detail about the report and its background and history.
More ... (ruv.is)

Calls for investigation into 1995 Flateyri avalanche

Residents of Flateyri who were affected by the avalanche in the town in 1995, are calling for an investigation comparable to the one carried out into the Súðavík avalanche. They say the matter is not about assigning blame or compensation, but about what lessons can be learned from the event. Nine months passed between two deadly avalanches. Fourteen people died in Súðavík and twenty in Flateyri.

Sóley Eiríksdóttir was eleven years old when an avalanche hit her home in Flateyri. She was rescued from the snow. Sóley followed the presentation by the Alþingi investigative committee into the Súðavík avalanche of 1995, but had to stop watching because of the memories the coverage triggered. She is calling for a comparable reckoning regarding the Flateyri avalanche.

Eiríkur Guðbjartur Guðmundsson, Sóley’s father, says avalanche risk always came up when winter set in. Avalanches were common after snowfall. He says various stories from local residents indicated that there was a risk of avalanches in the town. Despite this, further housing development had been planned higher up the hill, as in Súðavík. He says discussion of the danger was not welcome, for political reasons.
More ... (ruv.is)

Driver fined and banned after twice ignoring Rogers Pass closure

A recent provincial court hearing landed a motorist a $4,500 fine and a two-year park access prohibition for entering a closed section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Rogers Pass — not once, but twice — during avalanche control.

“Last winter, a major winter storm created high avalanche risk in Mount Revelstoke and Glacier national parks, forcing a temporary closure of the highway between Revelstoke and Golden,” public relations officer Guylaine St-Gelais wrote in the statement. “Despite the closure, an individual entered a restricted area twice during avalanche control operations.” The motorist was charged under the Canada National Parks Act and recently sentenced during an appearance in B.C. provincial court. A chunk of their $4,500 fine was paid as a donation to Avalanche Canada, which typically happens with national park violations related to winter operations in Rogers Pass.
More ... (Victoria News)

Avalanche at Xinjiang's ski resort leaves 1 dead

One person has been confirmed dead after an avalanche hit a ski resort in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Thursday. The emergency management bureau of Burqin County said the accident happened at 1:28 p.m. in an area outside the ski runs of the Jikepulin International Ski Resort. Rescuers brought out one person trapped in the snow, who was later confirmed dead. The bureau has carried out safety hazard inspections and risk assessments, while warning tourists to refrain from entering unopened areas.
Source ... (Xinjua.net)

Search for two climbers on Mt Cook called off

The men set off on Friday, December 12 from the Tasman Valley car park for Plateau Hut. They then departed the hut on the following evening with the intention of summitting Aoraki Mt Cook via the Linda Glacier route. The Department of Conservation was alerted when the pair failed to return to Plateau Hut on Monday morning. Aoraki Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker said search and rescue efforts spanned three days, when weather allowed.

Search teams today found located "some items of climbing equipment". "A visual investigation of this area has led to the determination that the overdue climbers have been caught in a significant ice avalanche within a known icefall hazard zone on the upper Linda Glacier," Walker said. "Because of the scale and volume of material involved, we don't believe this avalanche was survivable."
More ... (1news NewZealand)