Heavy snowfall creates extreme avalanche risk in Jasper National Park
Travis McEwan | CBC News | Posted: January 4, 2019 10:23 PM | Last Updated: January 5, 2019
Highway 93 south of Jasper is expected to be closed until Sunday for avalanche control work
A winter storm that has dumped 60 to 80 cm of snow along the Icefields Parkway has created an extreme avalanche risk and forced the closure of Highway 93 south of Jasper, Alta.
Environment Canada issued a winter storm warning for Friday, with another 15 cm of snow expected over sections of the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93). Heavy snowfall is expected Friday night, along with 15 km/h winds.
About 14 kilometres of Highway 93 is currently closed while Parks Canada's avalanche crew does control work. The section from the Icefields Centre to the Saskatchewan River Crossing is expected to remain closed until Sunday.
The control work involves the team deploying explosives to trigger avalanches to decrease the risk along the highway.
Watch: Parks Canada teams triggers avalanches in Icefields Parkway.
While other highways in the park are in decent driving condition, people who plan to visit the park should be aware of the extreme risk of avalanches, said Steve Blake, avalanche specialist and senior advisor with Parks Canada.
"The skiing at the ski areas is great," he said. "We do advise you stay out of avalanche terrain. Stay out of the mountains and confine your activity to the valley bottoms or the controlled areas like a ski area or groomed cross-country area."
Blake recommends park visitors do their research and check the avalanche bulletin before heading out.
"Our avalanche control activities take place on the highway corridors. The rest of the park is a natural environment and the extreme avalanche danger exists out there.
"Figure out what activities match up with the avalanche danger, because right now, at extreme, we advise avoiding all avalanche terrain."
The Environment Canada forecast for Jasper calls for a 40 per cent chance of flurries on Saturday.