Timeline

1885

Avalanches have posed a threat to the transportation corridor since 1885 when CP completed the transcontinental railway through Rogers Pass. The incredible avalanche danger and 9 metre (40 foot) annual snowfall of Rogers Pass demands new technologies and new skills from the railroaders. In the winter of 1884-85, a snow observation party is established by CP in Rogers Pass. In 1887 CP’s Granville C. Cunningham publishes a paper on snow observations in a civil engineering journal. Avalanche defenses are limited to snowsheds (there is no active avalanche control). This is the beginning of snow and avalanche studies until the railway goes underground in 1916.

1886

Glacier National Park and Yoho National Park are established as Canada's 2^nd and 3^rd national parks.

1910

On March 4, 58 railworkers are killed by an avalanche at the summit of Rogers Pass – this is Canada’s worst avalanche accident. As a result of the 1910 avalanche tragedy and other factors, CP tunnels beneath Rogers Pass and constructs the 8 km-long Connaught Tunnel under Mount Macdonald, completed in 1916.

1949

Marcel de Quervain, a Swiss avalanche expert who became the Director of the Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research at Davos, Switzerland (1950-80) visits Rogers Pass where he observes and records the first ever snow profile in the Rogers Pass area.

1952

Meteorological observations in Glacier are set up with wardens at Stoney Creek, Glacier, and Flat Creek.

1952-54

Noel Gardner spends two winters conducting avalanche study patrols for Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) in Rogers Pass with James R. Webb (Engineering and Construction Division of the National Parks Service in Banff) in preparation for the proposed construction of the Trans-Canada Highway. Gardner and Webb commute from Banff on the railway to make twice monthly avalanche patrols on skis. In 1954, Noel Gardner leaves Parks Canada. In 1956, he works for PWGSC organizing snow, weather and avalanche observations and constructs a small building on Mount Abbott at an elevation suitable for snow study and avalanche path observation.

1956

The federal government chooses Rogers Pass as the route for the Trans-Canada Highway (completed in 1962). Snow science, avalanche studies and control measures continue, this time with the Department of Public Works (PWGSC) followed by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Department of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources (federal predecessor for Parks Canada) and the Canadian Armed Forces.

1957

PWGSC requests an engineer from the NRC to assist with weather and snow observations at Rogers Pass. Peter Schaerer is hired. Peter Schaerer is responsible for the design and location of avalanche control works/static defenses against avalanches (snow sheds, earth mounds and dikes) as well as snow/avalanche observations. He contributes to the program, is involved in the first gun trials, works with Parks Canada’s Noel Gardner and then leads the program during Gardner’s temporary absence during the winter of 1958-59.

1958

The first Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) detachment arrives in Rogers Pass to conduct trials with artillery (mortar fire and 75mm Howitzer) to bring down avalanches as a tool for avalanche control. The guns prove difficult to manoeuvre in the deep snow because the surface route for the highway was not yet built.

1959

Avalanche safety is transferred from PWGSC to Parks Canada. Noel Gardner becomes head of Parks Canada’s newly established Snow Research Avalanche Warning Section (SRAWS). V. G. (Fred) Schleiss and his brother Walter Schleiss join the Parks Canada program working with Noel Gardner. Additional artillery trials are conducted with Canadian Pacific at Ross Peak avalanche path.

1960/61

With a rough highway grade available and ploughed, the Second Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (2 RCHA) under Conrad A. Namiesniowski continue artillery trials and conclude that the Howitzer is the most effective gun for avalanche control. The 105mm C-1 and 75mm Howitzers are selected. An agreement is made between CAF and Department of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources (Parks Canada) for Canadian Army assistance in the avalanche control program. CAF refer to the program as "AVCON".

The 105mm C-1 Howitzer was used from the beginning of the program, until about 50 years later when it was replaced by the 105mm C-3 Howitzer, with a transition period during the winters of 2010/11 and 2011/12. On March 5, 2012, the last C-1 Howitzer was shot and as of March 10, 2012, the C-3 was the only gun in use.

1962

The Trans-Canada Highway is complete and officially opened by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Static defences (snowsheds, dikes, mounds, road closures and no stopping zones) and the newly formed avalanche control program are critical to keeping the highway open during the winter.

1964/65

Noel Gardner resigns and brothers Fred and Walter Schleiss take charge of avalanche hazard forecasting and are in charge of Glacier National Park's avalanche control program in Rogers Pass until their retirement in 1991. They are replaced by Dave Skjonsberg (1991-2004), then Bruce McMahon (2004-2012), and Jeff Goodrich (2012 to 2021). Today, (2021 to present) Jim Phillips is the Senior Avalanche Officer for Parks Canada.

1966

The NRC begins an avalanche research program at Rogers Pass under the direction of Peter Schaerer. He ends his research in 1991.

1991

Due to funding cuts, the NRC removes itself from the program at Rogers Pass, but avalanche/snow research continues through partnerships with the University of British Columbia (Dave McClung obtaining a research and teaching position) and in 1997 the University of Calgary (Colin Johnston and Bruce Jamieson) in collaboration with the Canadian Avalanche Association and the skiing sector. Note – the program with the University of Calgary ended in March 2015.

1994

Parks Canada renames SRAWS: “Avalanche Control Section" (ACS).

2006

The Canadian Armed Forces rename AVCON: Operation “Palaci” (OP PALACI), meaning “reliability”.

2011

Parks Canada celebrates the 50th anniversary of its partnership with the Canadian Armed Forces in operating the avalanche control program. In honour of this anniversary, CF transfers three C-1 Howitzers to Glacier National Park for permanent exhibit in Rogers Pass. The C-1 Howitzer is decommissioned for active avalanche control and is replaced by the C-3 Howitzer.

2013

A historic snow study “Klein Kit” is transferred to the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology artifact collection. The Klein Kit, designed by NRC inventor and Officer of the Order of Canada, George Klein, facilitated snow research in Canada.

2015

The launch of Canada’s first virtual avalanche museum “Land of Thundering Snow”, a partner project with Parks Canada, the Revelstoke Museum and Archives and others.

Visit the Land of Thundering Snow website