Prince George, B.C.- The risk of avalanche in most mountainous back country regions remains “considerable” throughout B.C.

 

The rating was high on the weekend, avalanche activity is slowly decreasing but the risk of large destructive avalanches remains significant.

 

“The number of avalanches occurring naturally, without an obvious trigger, is starting to taper off,” explains Karl Klassen, Public Avalanche Bulletins Manager at the Canadian Avalanche Centre. “However, there are still several weak layers in the snowpack that can easily be triggered by the weight of a person on skis or snowmobile. Those avalanches will likely be much larger and more destructive than what we were seeing only a few days ago.”

 

The Canadian Avalanche Centre urges all backcountry travelers to stay on low angle, simple terrain during this warning period. Conditions are not expected to improve until next week after several days of cooler weather will begin to stabilize the snowpack.

 

Everyone in a backcountry party needs to be equipped with shovel, probe and transceiver and the CAC strongly recommends that 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.