In the wake of a powerful winter storm, and with the holidays here, avalanche officials are issuing an urgent appeal to back- and front-country users to be wary of conditions.
At atmospheric river walloped southern B.C. starting last Thursday, dumping a record-setting 98 centimetres of snow at the Coquihalla peak in a 48-hour period.
“It was a really significant storm,” said Ilya Storm, forecast program supervisor with Avalanche Canada.
“The challenge is, the skies are clearing up, there’s powder in the mountains, people are keen to get out for a powder day, but there’s a lingering problem in the snowpack.
“We’ve got a deep layer that’s going to persist, and with that comes with a risk of triggering avalanches.”
The agency has issued an avalanche warning that covers mountain ranges across the province, including some of the most popular and easily-accessible areas.
Avalanche warning areas:
- Sea-to-Sky
- South Rockies
- South Coast Inland
- Kananaskis Country
- Purcells
- Banff-Yoho-Kootenay National Parks
- Lizard Range-Flathead
- Waterton Lakes National Park
“What’s common to them is that deep in the snow pack, the early season snow … developed a really sugary layer that’s right near the crust,” said Storm.
“With all this snow on top of it, that weakness is what’s causing us grief.”
That threat has search-and-rescue volunteers on alert and warning the public to research the conditions in their area.
“People need to be very aware. There’s a lot of trails that are very accessible from the north shore that go right through avalanche terrain,” said North Shore Rescue search manager Mike Danks.
“People need to be aware, and they need to make sure they have the appropriate equipment with them and have the awareness of how to use that equipment.”
Danks said that warning goes double for people who unwrap something like snowshoes on Christmas morning, but don’t have any experience using them.
“The best decision you can make might be to stay at home, depending on the conditions,” said Danks.
“Those are tough decisions to make, but at least you’ll be around the next day.”
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