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Advancing avalanche risk management through professional excellence.

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Who we are

The Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) is the national professional organization for Canada’s avalanche industry. We advance avalanche risk management through professional training, membership standards, industry information exchange, and continuing professional development. Our members protect people, infrastructure, transportation corridors, and communities through the delivery of trusted avalanche risk management programs, fostering professionalism and excellence across the industry.

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  • Avalanche Search and Rescue Level 2
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Governance & Protecting the Public

Our members are avalanche professionals working across transportation, recreation, public safety, resource industries, research, and education. Together, they help protect people, infrastructure, and communities through informed avalanche risk management. By fostering professional excellence and supporting a connected, highly skilled membership, the CAA strengthens public confidence in avalanche risk management  programs and services across Canada. 

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News & Updates

  • Featured

    New Pro Purchase

    We’re excited to be working with the Outmap to offer exclusive access for CAA…

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  • September 14, 2026

    Winter Warm Up CPD Series

    Click here to see all CPD opportunities offered by the CAAThroughout October and November, we’ll be hosting weekly webinars on industry updates, emerging research, and fascinating case studies. All sessions…

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  • September 10, 2026

    Mountain Professionals CPD Series

    Sponsored by Click here to see all CPD opportunities offered by the CAA From November 2–4, we’re offering CPD sessions in collaboration with the CSGA, ACMG, and CMBGA. All sessions…

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The avalanche journal
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Find articles from past issues of The Avalanche Journal, and news from the Canadian avalanche industry and beyond.

  • Interview: Pascal Haegeli Reflects on His Career in Canada

    August 31, 2026

    By Alex Cooper An edited version of this interview was published in…

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  • Honorary Member: Bob Sayer

    August 26, 2026

    Fostering Participation, Connection, and Shared Responsibility By Alex Cooper and Nora Hughes…

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  • Gallery: Scenes from ISSW Whistler 2026

    October 8, 2026

    By Alex Cooper, Managing Editor, The Avalanche Journal The 2026 International Snow…

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Industry Standard for
an Extraordinary Industry

The CAA’s Industry Information Exchange (InfoEx®) is a daily exchange of technical snow, weather, avalanche, and terrain information between subscribers.

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This month, industry professionals returned to the This month, industry professionals returned to the classroom to complete the final step in the CAA's Industry Training progression, Avalanche Operations Level 3: Applied Risk Management.

Avalanche Operations Level 3 is the senior-level professional course, designed for experienced avalanche professionals working in forecasting, risk management, planning, and program supervision.

The curriculum emphasizes building a risk management framework derived from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 31000 standard. Students explore advanced concepts and real-world decision-making processes, preparing them to effectively analyze and communicate complex risk scenarios at both organizational and operational levels.

Congrats to all of this past month's Ops 3 students in Squamish and Kamloops, and thank you to our dedicated and knowledgeable ITP instructors: Iain Stewart-Patterson, Brendan Martland, Ken Bibby, Mark Vesley, Wren McElroy, Colin Zacharias, Lisa Larson, and Paul Harwood.

📸: Group photo of the students on the Ops 3 course in Squamish, BC, taken by @winter_wren
The CAA is pleased to recognize Julie LeBlanc as t The CAA is pleased to recognize Julie LeBlanc as the recipient of the 2026 Everett Clausen Bursary.

Julie graduated from the @truadventurestudies  Diploma program at Thompson Rivers University in 2005 and has worked in the avalanche industry ever since. Her career has focused on public avalanche forecasting, including with Avalanche Québec (@avalanche.quebec) in the Chic-Chocs and remotely with Avalanche Canada for Western Canada (@avalanchecanada ).

She also teaches avalanche education in both French and English, including CAA Industry Training Program courses and Avalanche Canada skills training programs.

Now based in Cap-Chat on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, Julie continues to contribute to avalanche safety and education in Eastern Canada. The bursary supported Julie in a long-standing professional goal: completing Avalanche Operations Level 3 in Squamish in September 2026.

The Everett Clausen Bursary provides a $500 credit toward the CAA course of the recipient’s choice and is available to CAA members.

The bursary honours Everett Clausen, one of the CAA’s long-standing supporters. Everett Clausen and CIL have supported the CAA for more than 20 years, helping advance professional avalanche education and training.

Congratulations, Julie!
Members can now register and view session informat Members can now register and view session information for two upcoming fall CPD Series.

The CAA's Winter Warm-Up CPD Series:

Four webinars throughout October and November on updates to best practices, technology advancements and professional development. All sessions are hosted virtually and recorded to view later to suit our members’ schedules.

The Mountain Professionals CPD Series:

From November 2nd – 4th, we’re hosting the Mountain Professionals CPD series with the ACMG, CSGA, and CMBGA. Together, we’ll host three days of webinars for mountain professionals. Tickets are $20, and members of all four associations can attend. Sessions are spread across a variety of times to accommodate everyone’s schedule, and registrants will receive recordings.

View the schedule for both series and register for these CPD opportunities today at the link in our bio or on our website.
Introducing Sage Robine, the recipient of our Wome Introducing Sage Robine, the recipient of our Women’s + Avalanche Operations Level 1 Scholarship.

To address women’s underrepresentation in the avalanche industry, the CAA covers the recipient's fees for the Avalanche Operations Level 1 course at Kootenay Pass, BC, from February 20 – 27, 2027. This scholarship is available to students who identify as women, gender non-conforming, non-binary, genderqueer, and/or other marginalized gender identities.

Sage (she/her) is an avid backcountry skier who works as a wildland firefighter in the United States and Canada. She grew up in Rossland, BC, so she’s excited to return to the Kootenays through the Women’s+ Operations Level 1 course. 

She hopes that through this scholarship and future CAA courses, she can push for more open dialogue on gender, sexuality, race and discrimination in outdoor spaces. She plans to pursue a career in rural avalanche forecasting and education, combined with seasonal fire behaviour and fuels work. Through this work, she plans to improve access to resources and support for more queer, trans, BIPOC, and low-income people via subsidized funding and targeted AST courses.

Congratulations, Sage! We can't wait to see what you accomplish next.
Some of the CAA staff and board attended the Inter Some of the CAA staff and board attended the International Snow Science Workshop in whistler last week. We really enjoyed all the presentations, field excursions and opportunities to connect with members and the wider international industry. 

Here are some photo highlights taken by our editor of The Avalanche Journal, Alex Cooper @alexcooperexplores 

Pictured here: Scott Thumlert (left), chair of the Technical Committee, and Tim Haggerty, co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee, welcome all the attendees to ISSW 2026.

The CAA staff at ISSW 2026, from left: Rosie Denton, Chris Dyck, Brendan Martland, Joe Obad, Stuart Smith, Maris Fraser, and Alex Cooper.

The banquet featured guest speakers who shared stories about the history of avalanche control in the Sea-to-Sky Corridor. From left: Moderator Mike Douglas, Hugh Smythe, Chris Stethem, Scott Aiken, and Tony Sittlinger.

One of many presentations

This poster on the “Dateability of the Male Avalanche Worker” was the far and away the most popular one on display at ISSW, and possibly the most scientific.

The recipients of the @issw2026whistler STELLAR Awards including the CAA’s president @winter_wren 

Gals at the STELLARS night celebration. 

1,300 people registered for ISSW and there were few empty seats for many of the sessions.

Dominic Baker and Sara Boilen from the Avalanche Hour podcast @theavalanchehourpodcast did a live recording of the podcast that featured several guests telling stories where practice didn’t always match the theory.

Some of the many CAA members in attendance.

Andrew Jones, a forecaster for Parks Canada in Glacier National Park, presents on the Rogers Pass avalanche control program.

CAA staff and board members at dinner. 

Marc Cossette from Wyssen Avalanche Control provides a demonstration of their LS12 tower during a field trip on Whistler Mountain.

Marc Cossette from Wyssen Avalanche Control provides a demonstration of their LS12 tower during a field trip on Whistler Mountain.

Al Roberts, forecaster for Revelstoke Mountain Resort, takes in a technical presentation on new research into avalanche release mechanisms by Johan Gaume of the SLF in Davos, Switzerland.
Only a few spaces remain for the AvSAR Pro Skills Only a few spaces remain for the AvSAR Pro Skills Update series: a valuable, one-day, in-person CPD opportunity for members. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to brush up on your AvSAR skills before winter.

Workshop dates, locations and remaining spaces:

Canmore, AB - October 18th (1 space left)
Nelson, BC - October 31st (13 spaces remaining)
North Vancouver, BC - November 1st (7 Spaces remaining)
Revelstoke - November 15th (5 spaces remaining)

Attending this session will earn you nine formal learning points that can be attributed towards members' Continuing Professional Development.
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