maxwell
Active VIP Member
by kent spencer, the provincemay 4, 2009
the owner of b.c.'s largest heli-ski operation is calling for a crackdown on snowmobiling in b.c. Mountains, following 19 deaths this year.
Drastic measures need to be taken to prevent further fatalities, says mike wiegele, a founding member of the canadian avalanche association.
"it's totally unacceptable that people are dying in large numbers. It's an epidemic," he said yesterday.
"snowmobilers are out of control. They go into closed areas without caring about anybody else," he said.
Wiegele said search-and-rescue operations were traumatized by one fatality last year in which the coroner was delayed recovering a body.
"we found [the victim's] face chewed off by wild animals," wiegele said. "it was very upsetting to staff."
he's calling for provincial snowmobiling guidelines, an "expert inspector" hired for all commercial operations using crown land, more monitoring stations with information on snow stability, and steps to hold all snowmobile groups responsible for back-country accidents.
Wiegele said there is a world of difference between heli-skiing, which his company has operated for decades, and snowmobilers heading blithely to uncharted, steep terrain.
"years of experience in the back country are needed to be safe. We have medical people on staff and belong to international mountaineering organizations," said wiegele.
Mike wiegele helicopter skiing operates in the blue river area between jasper and kamloops. There have been chopper crashes and deaths -- on average, one fatality every 10 years.
His company performed four unpaid rescues last winter, each costing up to $20,000.
Freelance journalist keith thirkell likens the situation to whitewater rafting in the 1980s, when there was a series of accidents and operators were unregulated.
"the government set down rafting guidelines and made it safe," thirkell said.
Wiegele said he has had little success raising snowmobile awareness during the current provincial election. He has talked to the liberals, but received luke-warm responses.
"tourism is the economic base of all of b.c. This is not good advertising," he said.
the owner of b.c.'s largest heli-ski operation is calling for a crackdown on snowmobiling in b.c. Mountains, following 19 deaths this year.
Drastic measures need to be taken to prevent further fatalities, says mike wiegele, a founding member of the canadian avalanche association.
"it's totally unacceptable that people are dying in large numbers. It's an epidemic," he said yesterday.
"snowmobilers are out of control. They go into closed areas without caring about anybody else," he said.
Wiegele said search-and-rescue operations were traumatized by one fatality last year in which the coroner was delayed recovering a body.
"we found [the victim's] face chewed off by wild animals," wiegele said. "it was very upsetting to staff."
he's calling for provincial snowmobiling guidelines, an "expert inspector" hired for all commercial operations using crown land, more monitoring stations with information on snow stability, and steps to hold all snowmobile groups responsible for back-country accidents.
Wiegele said there is a world of difference between heli-skiing, which his company has operated for decades, and snowmobilers heading blithely to uncharted, steep terrain.
"years of experience in the back country are needed to be safe. We have medical people on staff and belong to international mountaineering organizations," said wiegele.
Mike wiegele helicopter skiing operates in the blue river area between jasper and kamloops. There have been chopper crashes and deaths -- on average, one fatality every 10 years.
His company performed four unpaid rescues last winter, each costing up to $20,000.
Freelance journalist keith thirkell likens the situation to whitewater rafting in the 1980s, when there was a series of accidents and operators were unregulated.
"the government set down rafting guidelines and made it safe," thirkell said.
Wiegele said he has had little success raising snowmobile awareness during the current provincial election. He has talked to the liberals, but received luke-warm responses.
"tourism is the economic base of all of b.c. This is not good advertising," he said.
