Waterton Lakes National Park staff monitoring avalanche dangers ahead of warm weekend
WATERTON – Parks Canada urged backcountry users to stay out of avalanche terrain on Friday, Jan. 4, after a winter storm that led to an extreme danger rating in Banff, Yoho, Kootenay and Jasper national parks.
Not included in the warnings was Waterton Lakes National Park, and Visitor Safety Technician Adam Greenberg says the avalanche danger as of Wednesday, Jan. 9, in Waterton was rated at considerable in the alpine, moderate at the tree line and low below the tree line.
“What we were seeing last weekend is pretty much all along the Rockies there’s a weak layer of snow at the very bottom of the snowpack, and what you’re seeing in Yoho and Lake Louise was snowfall amounts of up to 70 centimetres that were overloading the snowpack on that weak layer. In Waterton, we were seeing snowfall amounts more in the region of 15 to 30 centimetres. Enough that we had some concern, so our danger rating did go into high, but not as extreme as other areas to the north.”
Traditionally in Waterton, the winter recreation area has been in the Cameron Lakes area, where people can access the alpine a lot easier.