March 24, 2020
Dear Friends
As many of you already know, the COVID-19 pandemic is growing at an alarming rate. Our governments have asked that we stay at home unless absolutely necessary. Our hospitals and care workers have requested we abstain from high risk activities to limit the pressure on our Healthcare system. Avalanche Canada has announced ending its forecasts within days and has asked people to “Please restrain backcountry activities during pandemic”. Our local emergency services are also impacted by this crisis. As such we can expect response times to be affected.
The scene in our parking lot on Saturday the 21st, was not a display of our community actively participating in social distancing. From our parking camera and witness statements we could see a nearly full parking lot, full of mingling and group activity; tail gate gatherings, guests from all ends of the world, and entire families out and about like nothing was wrong.
Continuous failure to adhere to our government requests will only cause stricter restrictions and increase the time for which these restrictions will be in place. As responsible business owners, crown land tenants and Canadians, we would like to ask everyone to abstain from coming to MMC-Shames Mountain to recreate. This pandemic is a global issue that can only be resolved if we all do our part, and take these requests seriously.
Finally, due to the significant impacts of COVID-19 affecting all industries, avalanche hazards related road closures may become more frequent and for prolonged periods as we transitions from winter to a late spring snowpack.
We thank you all in advance for your patience and cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,
MMC-Shames Mountain Team