WIEGELE CALLS FOR BAN ON SNOWMOBILES

By Keith McNeil
Clearwater Times
 
Mike Wiegele has upped the ante.
 
A few weeks ago the Blue River heli-ski operator called for a public inquiry into the large number of snowmobilers killed by avalanches this past winter.
 
Now he wants the government to ban all snowmobiling on Crown Land until provincial policy and guidelines are established for mechanized mountain travel for all areas proposed for snowmobile use.
 
“I’m getting tired of digging bodies out of the snow,” he said. “We had four rescues this winter that involved our entire operation; we had to stop everything, stranding some of our skiers in the mountains to save snowmobilers from themselves.”
 
“The government needs to put an immediate end to this madness before B.C.’s international reputation or safety is eroded even further,” he added. “Every time a snowmobiler dies, we see cancellations here. People think it must be unsafe everywhere.”
 
According to Wiegele, the provincial government has turned a blind eye as under-trained and irresponsible tour operators endanger the lives of sledders by luring them into the hills.
 
He described most of the dead riders as young Albertan flatlanders who were unaware of the inherent risks of riding in steep, mountainous terrain.
 
The Blue River heli-ski operator offered eight solutions to the epidemic:
 
1. Place a ban on snowmobiling on Crown Land until provincial policy and guidelines are established for mechanized mountain travel;
 
2. Apply Worksafe BC standards to all commercial and “not for profit/volunteer association” snowmobiling operations;
 
3. The B.C. government immediately hire an independent expert inspector for all snowmobiling operations using Crown Lands and areas proposed for snowmobiling;
 
4. Ensure all snowmobiling organizations have the expertise appropriate with legal liability and risk management in adventure tourism;
 
5. Notify all snowmobile organizations operating in B.C. that they will be held accountable and fully responsible for their promotion of backcountry use, including full recovery for all emergency rescue costs;
 
6. Install more local snow condition monitoring stations around B.C., where all user groups can easily obtain up-to-the-minute information on snow stability;
 
7. Ensure all above measures are enforced through the RCMP, Compliance and Enforcement Officers, and the Attorney General’s office; and
 
8. Ensure the costs of rescue, management, enforcement and regulation of the industry are born by the user groups.
 
After about 40 years of operation, Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing now employs 180 staff and another 50 support people.
 
According to the Canadian Avalanche Center, avalanches killed 18 snowmobilers last winter as of April 6, out of a total of 24 fatalities. Of the remainder, four were out-of-bound skiers, one was involved in other winter recreation, and only one was a mechanized skier such as a heli-skier or sno-cat skier.
 
The Avalanche Center blamed the number of avalanche deaths on the snowpack being fundamentally weak. This was caused by extended periods of cold weather weakening the surface layers, followed by a thick blanket of warmer storm snow that formed a cohesive slab.
 
The center also noted that the number of snowmobiler deaths was up considerably while the number of backcountry skiers killed was down. This year 70 per cent of fatalities were snowmobilers while zero were backcountry skiers. Over the past 10 years the average has been 38 per cent snowmobilers and 29 per cent backcountry skiers.
 
The center reported: “There are many people saying that backcountry skiers and heli-skiers alike are spooked by the snowpack this year and have really altered their behavior. Snowmobilers (or at least an important contingent of them) have not altered their behavior and are suffering the consequence.”
 
As of press-time late last week the B.C. Snowmobiling Federation had not responded to an e-mail asking for comment on Wiegele’s proposals.
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