Fetch!

The list of welcome sights up a mountain is usually a simple one: powder snow, blue sky, snow-caked trees, a cosy hut. But if you're unlucky enough to get buried by an avalanche, there could be no better view than Farley's nose breaking through the snow, with Fernie patroller Jennifer Coulter (Farley's handler) not far behind. This combo will save lives. Farley is just 2 years old and still in training with Jen under the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association (CARDA) program. He already has the hang of things, speedily finding two buried items in an exercise in avalanche runout the size of a football pitch, though his bedside manner would be disconcerting for anyone on the receiving end - the dogs are trained to get very excited about whatever they pull from the snow, thrashing the 'victim' to and fro. After the demo search they decided to bury me (nothing personal, I was assured) to allow Farley to practise digging up a human rather than just an old sweater. I didn't have to wait long in my icy tomb, though time enough to realise how unnerving the silence could be (and they barely covered the entrance to my snowhole); and I had room to move, a bit - nothing like the vice-grip of a real burial, but still sobering. I was ready with one of Farley's search rags held in front of my face, and before I knew it he was scrabbling through and dragging me out for a thrashing tug-of-war. "It's fine to let go if he nips you," said Jen. No kidding.

Despite being so effective at rapid search, dogs are often deployed to assist in body-recovery outside of a ski area, searching avalanche debris hours after an incident has taken place. Fernie's thorough avalanche control program, with a lot of explosives fired towards the headwalls above the bowls each morning after fresh snow, along with expert evaluation by the patrollers and weather experts, should ensure that you're safe within-bounds. But as you head into one of Fernie's steeper powder pockets, it's comforting to know Farley's in his kennel at the top of the White Pass quad chairlift, from where he should be able to reach you in time to make a difference. And on a personal note, I was thinking I have a fractional advantage now that Farley knows my smell. But as someone pointed out, that could go either way...