Avalanche Canada has released details about a number of large, human triggered avalanches that occurred this week in a new blog post.
Before the weekend began, a special avalanche warning was issued for Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National parks because of the unstable snow pack conditions, though these slides occurred in other mountain regions.
Throughout the weekend, the organization was alerted to a number of “near misses and large avalanches in the North Rockies and shallower snowpack parts of the Cariboo” mountain areas.
READ MORE: Special avalanche warning issued in Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay parks
“There are some winters we have to accept the need to scale things back – not just for one day or a weekend, but for the whole season… the evidence is clear – this is one of those seasons,” said the post.
Specific areas of concern include “the mountains around Valemount, McBride, Prince George, Barkerville, and Pine Pass,” B.C., where detailed reports were received through the mountain information network, and on Facebook.
READ MORE: Avalanche Canada’s Mountain Information Network offers new tools to asses avalanche risk
On Saturday, two large human triggered slides occurred.
The first was in the Lost Valley of Mt. Forfee, about 200 kilometres north of Prince George, B.C., where a rider and his snowmobile were partially buried.
The second Saturday slide happened near Barkerville, B.C., about 200 kilometres south east of Prince George. Rod McGibbon’s Facebook photos show a snowmobile partially buried in the snow, and a large rupture line in the snow showing where the avalanche broke free from the snow pack.
McGibbon posted the photos saying it “only took about five seconds today to really understand that the mountains really do have no forgiveness.”
Last Wednesday and Thursday, two different skiers triggered “deep persistent slab avalanches” that happen when there is a weak layer in the in the middle layers of the snow pack. Both skiers reported the slides and shared their photos with Avalanche Canada’s Mountain Information Network.
Avalanche Canada said “these incidents serve as a reminder that the snowpack structure in shallow snowpack areas is inherently weak. While there are some differences between these incidents… they point towards a common theme: it’s a dangerous season in shallow snowpack areas this winter.”
The organization has been notified of at least 12 other near misses in 2017.