Watch for avalanches, Yukoners warned

  Yukoners planning to head into the backcountry should be especially cautious this winter for avalanches, says the head of the Yukon Avalanche Association.

Kirstie Simpson said there is a shallow snow pack in the backcountry which, combined with cold weather, can cause problems for outdoor enthusiasts.

"We're seeing a number of small avalanche … activity, so a bunch of sort of soft, what we would call Size 1 avalanches — minor sloughs going on — but in quite a wide range of areas," Simpson told CBC News on Friday.

"We've had reports all the way through from folks that have been up in the Wheaton Valley to people who've been up in the coastal passes."

Simpson said a snowmobiler survived an avalanche last month around Tally-Ho Mountain in the Wheaton Valley area, located 55 kilometres south of Whitehorse.

According to an incident report on the Canadian Avalanche Centre's website, the man was snowmobiling with friends on Dec. 5 when he triggered a slab avalanche that swept him about 18 metres down a slope.

The avalanche almost fully buried the man for about five minutes, with only his helmet and one hand above the snow. He managed to create some breathing space for himself while his friends dug him out.

The weather was a significant factor, as the temperature had risen by more than 30 degrees in the 48 hours before the avalanche, according to the incident report.

Simpson said people planning to spend time in the Yukon backcountry should be cautious around gullies, windswept areas and slopes that face north and northeast.