Jock Richardson, Grant Statham, and Pascal Haegeli were the recipients of the CAA Service Award at the 2025 Spring Conference in Penticton.
JOCK RICHARDSON
Jock was nominated for the CAA Service Award for his outstanding and long-time contribution as an ITP instructor, having taught over 90
courses throughout his career.
“The researcher Gary Klein tells us that in the type of work we do, one of the ways we gain expertise is through shared stories. Hearing stories helps us gain experiences that build the intuition so vital to applying our craft,” wrote Garth
Lemke in his nomination. “Jock shares stories and I cannot think of an instance when I did not hear a story somewhere in a lesson or interaction. The countless individuals engaged in a course with Jock have advanced their experience and hopefully begun developing their intuition.”
In addition to his CAA work, Jock has worked for decades as a ski patroller, avalanche forecaster, mountain risk specialist, and more. Outside the avalanche world, he has guided trips on some of the wildest rivers around the world.
GRANT STATHAM
Grant Statham’s work has benefitted everyone who has worked in the avalanche industry. An ACMG Mountain Guide and Visitor Safety Specialist for Parks Canada, his impact has stretched far beyond those realms. He has led or contributed to many of the systems CAA members count on every day.
- He led the implementation of the Backcountry Avalanche Risk Review after the 2003 Rogers Pass tragedy, including the establishment of Avalanche Canada.
- He created the original Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale and its successor, ATES 2.0, along with Cam Campbell.
- He led development of the North American Public Avalanche Danger Scale, Conceptual Model of Avalanche Hazard, and AvalX public forecasting system.
- He was an author of the CAA’s TASARM Guidelines
- He helped create the Ice Climbing Avalanche Terrain Atlas with Sarah Hueniken.
- He is an Adjunct Professor with Simon Fraser University’s Avalanche Research Program.
He is passionate about his own ideas, but also open to others that are brought his way. His accomplishments are a payload of riches that have benefitted the public and professional avalanche worlds.
PASCAL HAEGELI
Pascal Haegeli has been strongly contributing to the Canadian avalanche community for over 20 years. Following his PhD under Dr. David McClung at UBC, he went on to create the Avaluator and begin a series of contributions to professional and public avalanche domains, including development of InfoEx, the Conceptual Model of Avalanche Hazard, and more.
In 2015, he was appointed the Simon Fraser University Research Chair in Avalanche Risk Management from which he launched the Avalanche Research program (SARP). Through SARP, Pascal has led research into the public avalanche danger scale, snowpack modeling, avalanche terrain mapping, and more. He has produced a new generation of contributors to avalanche research and practice. He is a regular presenter at the CAA Spring Conference and the International Snow Science Workshop.
“What really makes him special and a valued member of our community is not what he does, but how he does it with a sense of kindness and deep service,” said Scott Thumlert, who nominated Pascal for the honour.
