‘Now is not the time to be in the backcountry,’ Avalanche experts say
Global News
Avalanche experts are warning backcountry enthusiasts of very dangerous snow conditions in the mountains of southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia.
The deaths of three people in an avalanche near Kaslo, B.C., this week serve as a reminder of just how dangerous backcountry travel is in much of the southern Rocky Mountains right now.
Avalanche Canada is reporting “very dangerous” avalanche conditions in a large swath of southern Alberta and B.C. with the recent warm temperatures increasing the danger of large natural and human-triggered avalanches — prompting a warning that there’s “no reason to go near avalanche terrain.”
“Go to the ski resort, ski with friends and family, inbounds, outside of avalanche terrain, until we get cooler temperatures coming back into the region and really locking up that snowpack and making it a little bit safer.”
That’s the advice Darren Vonk of Kananaskis Mountain Rescue has for anyone planning to head to the mountains for some skiing or snowboarding.
Speaking to Global News, he said the dangerous conditions were caused by a slow start to winter, with the first significant snowfall in November and December. A lack of snow followed in January, and then in February it started to snow again.
“The bond between the old snow and the new snow was quite poor,” said Vonk. “So it kind of produced a really significant layer for slab avalanches — and then into the beginning of March, the snow really started coming as it normally does.’
“We’ve gotten all that new snow that came in March, but what it’s sitting on is really, really weak and poor and not trustworthy,” said Vonk.
In some areas that weak layer is about a metre below the surface. “So it kind of produced a really significant layer for slab avalanches,” added Vonk.
