Avalanche Warning Issued For Prince George Region
Friday, March 9, 2012 @ 11:46 AM
Revelstoke, BC: The Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC) has issued a Special Public Avalanche Warning for recreational backcountry users. The warning includes the mountains of the South Coast Inland, the Columbia Mountains from near Prince George in the north to the US border in the south, and BC’s South Rockies. The warning is in effect for this weekend, Saturday March 10 and Sunday March 11, 2012.
“We have a variety of issues within the snowpack right now that cause us two main concerns,” explains Ilya Storm, the CAC’s Public Avalanche Warning Services Coordinator. “The first is that the size of avalanches is likely to be much bigger than might be expected, and could be triggered remotely, which means triggered at a distance or from the bottom of the slope. Our other main concern is that slopes generally considered safer—lower angle, below treeline—are primed for human triggering.”
Local knowledge and a high degree of training and experience are required to travel safely in avalanche terrain this weekend, adds Storm. “Knowing the slope history is key to good decisions right now. And make sure you park in safe spots—well to the side of any avalanche path or far away from the runout zone. Given the size of recent avalanches, the bottom of runout zones this weekend might be father than you think.”
The CAC is advising all recreational backcountry users to carefully monitor avalanche bulletins. Everyone in a backcountry party needs to be equipped with a shovel, probe and transceiver and the CAC strongly recommends all backcountry users take an avalanche awareness course. Snowpack stability changes constantly throughout the winter. Backcountry users need to check the avalanche bulletin regularly to keep informed of conditions in their area. More detailed information is also available on the CAC forecaster’s blog. For the bulletins, blog and information on training, check www.avalanche.ca/cac.
Comments
It is unfortunate , but I am sure someone will die in one or mare of these regions this weekend. Why is it there is always people who choose to ignore the warnings and put other lives at risk to come and dig them out?
Funny thing is dude that it is no different than you climbing in your pickup and going for a drive. You choose to ignore the warnings but do it anyway. Chances are more people are going to die while driving that will while sledding.
Rescuers don’t put their lives at risk when they are going to dig anyone out. They don’t go in unless it’s safe to do so.
Nice comment
Out skiing in the Upper Torpy on Monday, on our run out down the Burn there was definitely settling & fracturing happening. Exactly as the forcaster stated these were remote triggers (near the bottom of the run). Harleyguy, there is always a safe way in & out of the mountains, the problem is not everyone is equipped to realize this.
“Chances are more people are going to die while driving that will while sledding.”
One has to come up with meaningful stats.
There are fewer people sledding than driving. Not only that, but on an annual basis, there are considerably fewer people-x-distance covered sledding than people-x-distance covered driving.
It would be interesting to get those rates.
http://www.vtvast.org/VAST/Safety/Zero-Alcohol-Campaign0.html
From the above site: “Operating a snowmobile is inherently a much higher risk activity than driving an automobile.”
“As an off-road activity, snowmobiling takes place in an unpredictable and uncontrollable natural setting very different from highly regulated, engineered, maintained, uniform and relatively predictable public roads. Consequently, snowmobilers are simultaneously confronted with a greater range and mix of potentially dangerous variables. The unexpected and unfamiliar are far more likely to happen without warning while snowmobiling. At the same time, snowmobiles offer fewer structural and safety features to protect participants, being more like motorcycles than automobiles.”
Does not take long to find information to prove the obvious.
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