Israelson, Clair

Clair Israelson is a former Parks Canada warden, heli-ski guide, and executive director of the Canadian Avalanche Association. He was born in December 1949 in Dawson Creek, BC, but grew up in Surrey, BC. He attended BCIT in Vancouver and was recruited for a job by Parks Canada while there. He started as a warden at Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta in 1971. It was a seasonal job; he spent the summer there and then was sent to Yoho National Park for the winter to work on the avalanche program. In the fall of 1972, he was hired full time and posted to Banff National Park. In the spring of 1973, he was chosen for a Mount Logan expedition, and he was also occasionally posted at Sunshine Village ski area and Norquay ski area working on avalanche control. He increasingly worked in public safety roles and eventually transferred to Lake Louise. There, he mostly worked in the winter on avalanche control at the ski hill, and in the summer, search and rescue as well as training for that. He was also tasked with looking after the environmental development of the ski hill in the summer. Earlier on in his career, he did work a couple of summers of backcountry patrols, horseback riding the trails in Lake Louise. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he and the other younger wardens were frequently sent on ski trip routes and trainings in order to improve their backcountry travel skills. Later on in his career, he was more involved in cost recovery for search and rescue initiatives. At the end of his career, he took a job as the public safety specialist for the Western region's regional office. This had him involved in more national initiatives, including prevention programming for public safety, multi-disciplinary working groups, regulation changes for heli-sling rescue, and more. During his time as warden, Clair also got involved in the National Search and Rescue Secretariat (NSS), a funding source for Parks Canada, and continued his work there after retiring from Parks Canada. In the course of his work as a park warden, he was involved in many training outings which eventually led to him completing his mountain guide training, achieving certification in 1982. He then went on to train and mentor several others in the mountain community. Clair also completed training that was offered through the Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA), which was very new at the time. When he first started, the responsibilities were avalanche control inside the three ski areas in Banff National Park, as well as avalanche control for the highways and railways. In the 1980s, the number of backcountry avalanche fatalities increased and the wardens began to see the importance of a backcountry forecast, eventually announcing plans for this after a particularly deadly search and rescue weekend. Clair took retired in [1997 or 1998], but also worked as a consultant for a couple of years after. When an opening came up with the Canadian Avalanche Association, he took the job as the Executive Director, a position he held for eight years. After this, he reconnected with an old friend and they managed a helicopter ski company, Northern Escape Heli Skiing, for five years. Since retiring as a heli-ski guide, Clair has enjoyed skiing and hiking. He is married and has two children. In 2015, he received honourary membership of the CAA.

Dawson Creek, BC
Surrey, BC
Vancouver
Waterton Lakes National Park, AB
Yoho National Park, AB
Banff National Park, AB
Sunshine Village Ski Area, AB
Norquay Ski Area, AB

National park warden
Heli-ski guide

RAD, July 2008 version. Canadian Council of Archives.

Catalogued November 2022.

1) Archival material
2) https://parkwardenalumni.com/clair-israelson/2/
3) https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Clair-Israelson-81797358
4) https://www.targadargento.com/en/1997-clair-israelson-2/
5) https://www.neheliskiing.com/a-legend-retires
6) https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.avalancheassociation.ca/resource/collection/53BC6F37-427B-46EA-9FA9-DB6EE804C896/Apr_13_Special_Resolution_B_-_Clair_Israelson_to_be_awarded_Honorary_Membership.pdf
7) https://thesnowmag.com/heli_skiing_canada/