While the heavy snowfall throughout the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley has made the area’s ski slopes a popular destination this weekend, search and rescue crews are warning about an increased risk of avalanches.
North Shore Rescue is alerting skiers and snowboarders Sunday that much of the fresh snow on mountains throughout the South Coast, Sea to Sky Highway, and Vancouver Island is sitting on crusts, or sliding surfaces.
This makes the potential for avalanches especially high, with mountains in the South Coast area (closest to Vancouver) deemed the highest at risk.
Hikers, skiers and snowboarders are being advised to stay within approved areas on these mountains, or otherwise stay at home.
“A lot of the terrain that people want to ski is avalanche terrain,” North Shore Rescue team leader Mike Danks said. “So you have to be very cognizant of that. If you are experienced, you need to choose a very conservative route to travel on.”
Despite the warnings, the snow has still been received enthusiastically by ski hill staff and visitors alike.
Mount Seymour saw 73 centimetres of snow within 24 hours, which delayed the hill’s opening as crews rushed to clear roads and parking lots.
“This has been absolutely incredible,” Mount Seymour general manager Eddie Wood said. “This is by far one of the largest snowfalls we’ve received in such a short period of time, but it’s terrific and we can’t believe it’s coming at this time of year. It’s fantastic.”
Wood also warned of the risks involved with straying out of bounds on the mountain.
Grouse Mountain has closed its snowshoe trails due to the avalanche risk, although the in-bounds areas remain safe. The Grouse Grind remains closed for the winter season.
North Shore Rescue has highlighted the Howe Sound Crest Trail on Cypress Mountain, and the Strachan Meadows area below Saint Marks, as examples of trails that run through avalanche risk zones.
On Sunday afternoon, North Shore Rescue tweeted that they are searching for two lost skiers who went out-of-bounds on Cypress Mountain.
They later posted that the conditions are too dangerous for rescue teams to enter the area, and will try again tomorrow morning.
WATCH BELOW: A major search for two missing skiers on Cypress Mountain has been going on for the last few hours. Geoff Hastings has more on this breaking news.
The data above comes from Avalanche Canada and can be found here.
Comments