Mountain rescue expert warns Albertans to be avalanche-aware with temperatures set to rise

Temperatures are forecasted to warm up in parts of Alberta this weekend and that means people travelling in the Rockies need to be aware of the heightened risk of avalanches, experts say. 

This year snowpack in Kananaskis is weaker than usual, said Kananaskis Mountain Rescue specialist Michael Olsthoorn. 

He said that weak snowpack at the alpine level, combined with forecasted warmer temperatures and sun — could be a recipe for trouble. 

"Now we're dealing with more than one weak layer, so it wouldn't surprise me with this warming that we see some large avalanches happen this weekend," he said.

"Often what happens with significant warming is that layer might wake up … and just start to slide on that particular day, so we could see significant avalanches that will go the full depth of the snowpack."

He added that the snowpack in Banff is more varied than the Kananaskis area — thicker in some areas and weaker in others. 

"I think anybody who's snowshoeing, ski touring or snowmobiling, should be particularly mindful of what's overhead when they're doing those activities."

Avalanche Canada forecaster Ari Hanna said most areas on the west side of the Rockies are seeing moderate avalanche hazard, along with areas in southeastern B.C. 

She said that human-triggered avalanches are possible. 

"The snowpack basically just doesn't like change. And when abrupt changes are introduced, it destabilizes the snowpack. So in this case, where we're kind of going into spring and we're getting into some warmer weather, heat is penetrating into the snowpack," Hanna said. 

"When the heat penetrates down to those weak layers, that can reactivate them, and we're starting to see that in the eastern side of the Rockies, we're seeing some big deep avalanches and we're taking that as a sign of what's to come in the deeper snowpack areas further west."

She advises people avoid edges when travelling on ridges and stay away from cornices when out in the mountains.

Olsthoorn recommended people stay on designated trails, avoid avalanche terrain, keep up to date on avalanche bulletins, and avoid spending time in areas when the intense warming starts mid-day.