Extreme cold primes BC’s Rocky Mountains for active avalanche season

PRINCE GEORGE – A huge dump of snow after a cold dry start to winter is pretty much an avalanche forecasters perfect storm, and those are exactly the conditions we’ve been experiencing across Northern BC so far this season. It’s created some sketchy snow pack conditions in the backcountry at higher altitudes, so much so that Avalanche Canada is sounding the alarm and issued an Avalanche Warning for a huge swath of the Rocky Mountains.

The Avalanche warning issued on the 28th, covers a massive area, encompassing nearly the whole of the BC side, and part of the Alberta side of the Rockies, stretching from Williston Lake, North of Mackenzie, including the Pine Pass, The Hart, Cariboo, Columbia and Glacier ranges, as well as, Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and the Kootenay’s National Parks, and as far south as the Purcell Mountains at the American border, and pretty much every other back country destination along the way.

The early season tends to be the most dangerous time in the backcountry and mountains ranges, adventure enthusiast eager to hit the slopes after the first signs of snow have to keep a constant watch for half buried hazards, exposed rock faces, trees, and creeks. And now, with huge swaths of pristine terrain under an extensive avalanche warning, there’s a lot more on the line for anyone planning to make the trek. In the past week alone, there have been a number of major slides and close calls already, including close to home in the hills outside Quesnel, thankfully though, this time nobody was hurt.