By Bob Covey

One of the grandfathers of modern avalanche safety was heralded for a lifetime of achievement during the Canadian Avalanche Association’s (CAA) annual general meeting earlier this month.

Willi Pfisterer, former mountain guide, ski instructor, snow and avalanche specialist and park warden in Jasper National Park, was presented the award in Penticton, British Columbia. According to the association’s executive director, Clair Israelson, their organization was “built on the shoulders of giants.”

Pfisterer was honoured in the CAA’s category of ‘coach.’ Israelson explained that his work developing avalanche safety programs laid the foundation for government, ski resorts, transportation commissions and industry to foray into the backcountry in winter.

Pfisterer, a native of Austria who came to Canada in 1955 to teach skiing, was also one of the founding members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and the rescue dog program in Canada. He helped advance the warden service’s snow and avalanche programs while working in Jasper National Park. He has climbed approximately 1,600 peaks and been involved in over 700 mountain rescues, whether leading an avalanche extrication or writing up the paperwork for management.

After a long career in Jasper National Park, Pfisterer moved to Tete Jaune and recently moved to Pine Grove Manor in Jasper. Pfisterer said what he was most surprised by at the award ceremony was how much the CAA has grown since he helped start it 25 years ago. Today the CAA boasts over 800 members.

Throughout his career he harped on the importance of shovelling – the strategies, the techniques, manpower considerations and even the shovel itself. Only recently, he feels, has shovelling been given the due regard it deserves.

“Every idiot can find this thing in six minutes,” he said, referring to the ever-advancing avalanche beacon. “But if it takes you two hours to shovel them out you’re out of time.”

But there’s no substitute for common sense, and the gut feeling one hones from years of experience in the backcountry. Pfisterer said his instincts never let him down.

“Willi set the standards of what professionalism in the mountains should look like,” Israelson said.

Bob Covey is the editor of The Fitzhugh, Jasper.