Avalanche Canada ending avalanche forecasting this week due to pandemic

Avalanche Canada is issuing its final avalanche hazard forecast of theseason this week, saying the COVID-19 pandemichas made it impossible to gather data needed for accurate predictions.

The non-profit usually puts its avalanche forecasts together using data sent in bya wide network of experts across the region. Since backcountry operations were suspended due to the outbreak, that data isn't being gathered which means Avalanche Canada'steam doesn't have the information it needs to continue its forecasts.

The agency said itslast forecast will be issued on Saturday, remaining in effect untilMonday.

The organization, based in Revelstoke, B.C., usuallyissues daily avalanche forecasts throughout the winter for much of Western Canada's mountain ranges. Dangerratings run from low to extreme, with the latter meaning people should avoid all avalanche terrain.

A statement said Tuesday's decision to suspend forecasts is also meant to keep people out of the backcountry so they don't risk putting unnecessary strain on the health-care system.

"We do not want to provide a service that promotes recreating in mountainous terrain, where there is often significant hazard," Avalanche Canada's executive director, Gilles Valade, wrote in the statement.

"This is clearly not the time for taking any sort of risk."

Both B.C. and Alberta have declared a provincewide state of emergency. Health-care officials at provincial and national levels have urged people to stay home unless absolutely essentialto avoid spreading the virus and overloading the country's health-care system.

Avalanche Canada is also shutting down its Mountain Information Network, or MIN, to discourage people from going into the backcountry. The public usually uses the network tosubmit their own real-time trip reports and observations, which can help forecasters in the absence of other data.

"We do not take these steps lightly," Valade continued. "But we feel it is essential that we work together and do what we can to avoid putting any extra load on our health-care system at this time."

Avalanche Canada warned the avalanche forecasting system wasat risk last week, with the data stream from professional sources already beginning to dry up.

Experts have said March is typically one of the busiest times for avalanche-related accidents.