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Kamloops News

Sun Peaks' newest snow safety team member is a very good girl

Delphin the avalanche dog at Sun Peaks Mountain Resort.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Karsten von Hoesslin

Ski enthusiasts at Sun Peaks Mountain Resort may see a four-legged professional working the slopes this year.

Avalanche dog Delphin has joined the snow safety team, under the guidance of her owner and certified handler, Karsten von Hoesslin.

“Having a dog on any site is always great,” von Hoesslin said. “It lifts up any group.”

While Delphin is certified as an avalanche dog with the National Dog Association, this talented girl does a whole lot more than bring smiles to peoples’ faces and stand on duty in the event of an avalanche.

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She can track down human remains in the snow, find missing people on the hill and find people stuck in tree wells.

“Sun peaks has a low avalanche hazard,” von Hoesslin said. “We have a great safety team. We work to ensure we don’t have an avalanche problem. Delphin can respond to other kinds of emergencies. If incidents happen out of bounds she will get there first.”

Delphin is trained to find humans under water and detect bombs. She can track down currency and sniff out drugs. She has even tracked down stolen gems.

Von Hoesslin adopted Delphin in 2015 while living in Europe. She is a Vizlsa breed.

“I wanted a pointer because they are good with kids and great with activities like swimming and running,” he said. “She is my sidekick, she goes everywhere I go.”

von Hoesslin said he didn’t start training Delphin until she was two years old.

“I wanted her body and joints to be developed to handle the terrain and longer searches,” he said. “I also wanted her to be a bit more mature and able to switch between play mode and work mode.”

The pair moved back to Canada in 2018 and continued training until she was ready for avalanche work.

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Currently von Hoesslin works as an avalanche forecaster at Sun Peaks and a cat ski guide at Keefer Lake Lodge in Cherryville. In the summer months he teaches technical rescues with Raven Rescue. Delphin, of course, goes with him.

“She gets to hang out in the hut at the top of the ski hill,” he said. “At the resort she is on the cats with us or at the lodge. When I’m teaching swift water rescues and rope training in the summer she helps out on the rivers as well.”

von Hoesslin said he encourages other patrollers on the safety teams to also handle Delphin, as a backup.

“It isn’t all work for her,” he said. “It is important to me that she gets time to relax and play and just be a dog.”


To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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