With the weekend approaching, Avalanche Canada is advising backcountry enthusiasts to show caution and watch for signs of serious avalanches.
A considerable risk of slides is being reported in the area of Cranbrook, Kimberley and the Columbia Valley, which is expected to last throughout the weekend.
Forecaster Tyson Rettie is advising residents to make conservative terrain choices this weekend, due to the persistent weak snow layer near the base of the snowpack.
“In the terrain closer to Cranbrook, make conservative decisions, avoid high consequence terrain, avoid ski terrain, avoid features around ridgelines that are thick-to-thin, rocky areas that are classic trigger points,” Rettie says. “Just generally staying to mellower, more conservative terrain.”
Rettie adds you should expect danger ratings in the region to increase as wind increases and freezing levels rise.
“As we look into the weekend, the name of the game is going to be choosing conservative terrain and avoiding some of those classic trigger points,” Rettie says. “That’s a message that we’ve been delivering for a number of weeks now for much of the Interior, because as I mentioned in general, the snowpack is shallow, weak and contains multiple weak layers.”
The latest forecast follows a fatal slide reported earlier this week near Kaslo, which left one Nelson Police constable dead and another critically injured.
– Avalanche Canada Forecaster Tyson Rettie
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