Avalanche safety campaign launched

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 Vancouver- Mountain Equipment Co-op and the Centre d'avalanches de la Haute-Gaspésie (CAHG) have joined forces to raise awareness of the dangers posed by avalanches in Québec and other areas of eastern

Canada.

   
Avalanche clinics and information sessions will be held at MEC's Montréal and Ottawa stores on various dates throughout the winter. Avalanche information booths will also be in place at the two stores.

    Over eighty deaths in Québec have been attributed to avalanches in the past thirty years. Despite the high number of fatalities, the risks posed by avalanches are largely unknown among Québec and eastern Ontario backcountry-

ski and sports enthusiasts.

   
Most avalanches occur in mountainous terrain. However, avalanches – and deaths and injuries associated with them - also happen in non-mountainous areas.

    In Québec's Thetford Mines region, two young skiers lost their lives in an avalanche that occurred on a pile of mining slag. Avalanche fatalities have also happened near Trois-Rivières and Tadoussac.

    An avalanche can occur on any snow slope with as little as 15 degrees inclination and up to 60 degrees inclination. Many open or partially tree- covered slopes, therefore, pose an avalanche danger.

   
Outdoor enthusiasts who attend the avalanche clinics and information sessions and who regularly visit areas that are prone to avalanches will be better equipped to measure the risks. They will also benefit from being more

familiar with avalanche safety and emergency procedures.

    The avalanche information booths were set up on November 29, 2003 at MEC's Montréal store and in early December at its Ottawa store. The booths will be open to the public throughout the winter months of 2004.

 
Mountain Equipment Co-op is Canada's largest outdoor equipment retailer. Established in 1971, MEC has almost 2 million members throughout Canada and around the world, including 115,000 in Québec.

For further information: please call Marie-Eve Allaire at MEC Montréal  at (514) 788-5878; Mark Van Kooy at MEC Ottawa at (613) 729-7802; or Dominic  Boucher at CAHG at (418) 763-7791, ext. 23