• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Avalanches in the Rockies

George Kourounis

George Kourounis

EF2
Joined
Nov 14, 2004
Messages
107
Location
Toronto, Ontario
It's been an incredible year for avalanche conditions in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. A well above average snowpack combined with a buried layer of hoar frost leftover from Feb 4th has created some extremely unstable conditions in the mountains, especially along the Trans-Canada highway which is the main east/west route.

I'm in the middle of a shoot for the new Angry Planet TV series and we've been working with the Canadian military and the dept. of transportation as they blast the mountainsides with a howitzer and drop bombs from helicopters to create smaller avalanches before they turn into potentially deadly ones.

TN300_Avalanche_12.JPG

An avalanche coming down towards the highway.

TN300_Avalanche_13.JPG

105mm howitzer used for starting controlled avalanches.

TN300_Avalanche_17.JPG

Heli-bombing with a 2 minute fuse.

TN300_Avalanche_23.JPG

Typical terrain in the area (taken from a helicopter)

More pictures and updates are online at:
www.stormchaser.ca
George Kourounis
Currently in Revelstoke, B.C.
 
Thanks for sharing. Please post some video if you are willing to share.

I'm guessing you are in interior BC. I didn't know they had bad hoar frost problems, but it makes sense in the continental snowpack of the interior.

How much snow have they had this winter? How does this compare to average?
 
Right now I'm having huge website problems so I won't be able to post any pics or video for a few days.

Right now I'm in Golden B.C. between Calgary and Revelstoke along the Rogers Pass. They've had about 30 FEET of snowfall here this year which is above average but not record setting.

This morning I was out with a ski patrol team and they set off a couple of 12kg explosive charges and managed to bring down a pretty good slide. I was also testing out an avalanche airbag system. It's like a parachute but it has a cylinder of compressed nitrogen that inflates 2 balloons in the backpack that expand out the sides. The extra bouyancy is supposed to keep you on top of the avalanche insted of being buried by it. Very cool but pricey (about $1000)

George Kourounis
www.stormchaser.ca/galleries.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top