It was almost inevitable that this would happen. The deep El Niño winter has created a snowpack that is now reanimating itself for a spring of potentially catastrophic proportions.
Not to get all doomsday on you out there, but the very thing that forecasters look out for – a drastic warming trend on top of a snowpack riddled with variety in its layers – is allegedly going to happen this weekend.
The Canadian Avalanche Association issued a special warning for this weekend in western Canada, and the northwestern states in the U.S. don’t look much better. Temperatures are expected to warm up almost 20°F between now and Friday.
“When you get that degree of warm weather, you do get a destabilization of the snowpack,” said CAA avalanche forecaster James Floyer. “The potential is you don’t just destabilize the surface layer, you destabilize more of the snowpack so potentially a deep layer or maybe even the whole snowpack.”
In Montana, the Flathead Avalanche Center also issued a warning to backcountry users, particularly for slopes with large cornices that have been loaded by wind. Cornices are particularly dangerous because when one breaks it has the potential to release literally tons of pressure onto a slope that will also release under the weight. Many people have made the deadly mistake of only being considerate of slopes they board/ski down; but it’s just as important to be aware of what is above you while skinning up.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center has given most of the mountains in the southern part of the state a considerable rating, meaning the avalanche conditions are dangerous and slides on the correctly angled slopes are likely (avalanches increase as you approach 38 degrees in slope angle). California’s Sierras are experiencing a moderate cycle with danger increasing in the afternoon with the freeze/thaw cycle (think shredding corn snow around 10:30am-1pm).
The two videos just happened this week in Colorado.This first vid is from Colorado’s Gore Range:
This second clip is from the East Vail, Colo. backcountry and is super-eerie as you get the rider’s view as he’s pushed downhill, then his panicked expression after his GoPro is knocked forward on his head showing his face:
Luckily these two were OK but very often that’s not the case. According to Avalanche.org, there have been 26 fatalities this season. It might only get sketchier from here.
Be careful out there.
