Canadian Armed Forces bringing an end to its longest domestic mission — avalanche control in the Rogers Pass

VANCOUVER — The Canadian Armed Forces will cease avalanche control operations in the mountain passes of Western Canada next year, bringing an end to the military’s longest-running domestic mission after more than six decades..The Department of National Defence confirmed Thursday that its agreement with Parks Canada to support Operation Palaci will not be renewed when the pact expires in August 2027.The decision was made “due to evolving defence modernization priorities and operational imperatives, and the planned divestment of the legacy artillery systems currently used in support of Parks Canada,” according to DND spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin.Since 1961, gunners from the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery have used 105-mm howitzers to trigger controlled slides and keep the Trans-Canada Highway and rail lines open through some of the country’s most avalanche-prone terrain.The impetus was the construction and impending 1962 opening of the Trans-Canada Highway through Rogers Pass. The route had been chosen in 1956 despite the area’s extreme avalanche hazard — one of the highest in North America. Avalanches had posed a lethal threat to the transportation corridor since the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed through the pass in 1885.Between 1885 and 1916, more than 250 railway workers died in avalanches there, including Canada’s deadliest avalanche disaster on March 4, 1910, when around 60 men were killed in a single slide.The program, considered the world’s largest mobile avalanche-control operation, has deployed dozens of soldiers each winter to the Revelstoke area of British Columbia..Crews operate from 18 firing positions along a 43-kilometre stretch, primarily in Rogers Pass. The howitzers can be fired effectively at night and in any weather conditions, striking targets up to five kilometres away.Rogers Pass, at more than 1,300 metres above sea level, averages about 14 metres of snowfall annually and is criss-crossed by more than 130 active avalanche paths. It is widely regarded as one of the most hazardous travel corridors in North America.Passive measures such as snow sheds, dikes and mounds proved expensive and insufficient on their own to guarantee safe, year-round passage for both the new highway and the existing rail line. In the early 1950s, formal avalanche studies began specifically in anticipation of the highway route.Artillery was identified as an effective, mobile, all-weather active-control solution — one that could proactively trigger smaller, manageable slides before dangerous build-ups occurred..Artillery was identified as an effective, mobile, all-weather active-control solution — one that could proactively trigger smaller, manageable slides before dangerous build-ups occurred. Canada had surplus artillery pieces available from the postwar era, making the partnership with the military a practical and cost-effective choice.The howitzers used in the program — the C3 105-mm variety — date from the Korean War era, though their basic design originated during the Second World War. As legacy systems, many parts are no longer readily available and much of the institutional knowledge required to maintain them has faded, factors that contributed to the planned divestment cited by the Canadian Armed Forces.

Canadian Armed Forces bringing an end to its longest domestic mission — avalanche control in the Rogers Pass

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