Parks Canada issues avalanche warning for mountain parks ahead of long weekend
Posted Feb 13, 2015 4:04 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
With beautiful weather, Valentine’s Day and a long weekend, many are expected to head to the mountain parks, but Parks Canada is advising caution.
A special avalanche warning has been issued for many of the mountain parks, including Banff, Yoho, Kootenay Jasper, as well as Kananaskis Country.
Because of a combination varying weather and a recent dump of snow and wind, confidence in the snowpack is low.
A deep layer at the base of the snowpack has been overloaded with snow and wind, combined with a week of abnormally high-freezing levels.
Visitor Safety Specialist Stephen Holeczi said because of abnormally recent warm conditions, as well as a large avalanche cycle, officials suggest avoiding the backcountry.
“Even people with experience to just be really cautious about their terrain choices,” he said. “It’s a great time to go to the ski hill, but one of the user groups that we like to target is people that go to the ski hill, but maybe are considering going into the backcountry from the ski hill.”
“This weekend’s probably not a great time to be doing that.”
Although natural avalanche conditions are tapering off, Parks Canada says conditions remain prime for human triggering and the weather pattern is not expected to normalize until next week.
Avalanche Canada has also issued a warning for southern interior ranges in British Columbia, including South Columbia, Purcells, Kootenary-Boundary, South Rockies, Lizard Range and Flathead Regions.
