Spring weather making mountain snowpacks unstable

Large slab avalanches are most likely to occur locally in the South Rockies range or the Purcells, two popular backcountry recreation areas in Southeastern B.C., should warm temperatures continue.

Some advice from Avalanche Canada when it comes to backcountry avalanche safety includes:

Start your day early and end your day early. Avalanche activity will be less likely when the snowpack is coolest during the night and early morning, and most likely during peak daytime warming.
Watch for preliminary signs of daytime warming, such as a moist or wet snow surface, snow falling from trees, or snow falling from steep terrain and pinwheeling down the slope. This is most likely to first occur on sun-exposed slopes.
Be particularly cautious if there is no overnight freeze (i.e., air temperature stays above 0°C even during the night). This means that warming can push even deeper in the snowpack, increasing the likelihood of avalanche activity.
If you are in an area where deeper weak layers may be present, do your best to avoid large, high consequence terrain during periods of daytime warming.
Since avalanches could release full paths, you will want to avoid travelling through the runout zones of avalanche paths, particularly during the middle of the day. This includes runout zones that are snow-free, as large avalanches from above could travel far into the valleys.
Avoid travelling along the edges of ridgelines or on slopes beneath cornices. If you are on a ridge and can’t see the slopes beneath you, assume that a cornice is present and stay well back. Cornices themselves can kill people and their release can also trigger slabs on the slopes below.
Follow the avalanche bulletin for your region

by Jeff Johnson

Spring weather making mountain snowpacks unstable

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