North Shore Rescue warns of avalanche risk

North Shore Rescue is issuing a public safety warning, urging people to avoid avalanche terrain due to current conditions.

According to the search and rescue group, more than 40 centimetres of snow fell during the latest winter storm in some North Shore mountains this week. However, that was followed up by rain.

“If you choose to go out in avalanche terrain today and something happens and you call for help, there’s a decent chance that we’re not coming,” André-Jean ‘AJ’ Maheu, an NSR avalanche safety officer, said in a Jan. 19 video.

“Hopefully you were able to take advantage of the nice snow that we got this week, because that certainly deteriorated quite rapidly overnight. Things unfortunately turned to rain, but it’s not the typical North Shore rain that is falling on a very-well settled coastal snowpack. It actually is falling on pretty dry and cold snow.”

Maheu says that has “completely different implications.”

In his video, at 1,200 metres, Maheu pointed out the various layers of the snowpack, some of them described as “quite dry.” Others showed signs of faceting.

The combination of the extreme cold temperatures and snow that gripped the region, with the warming and snow that followed, have created perfect conditions for avalanches.

“When you get a fair amount of rain or if the temperatures rise on a relatively softer snowpack, the snowpack hasn’t had a chance to consolidate and now you’ve got a lot of rain weakening. And, actually, just … the sheer weight of it can cause loose snow to run,” Dave Barnett, a search manager with NSR, explained.

“In other kinds of conditions, it can penetrate weaker layers down below so you can get a fairly significant avalanche in those kind of conditions.”

In his video, Maheu notes trees are also shedding quite a bit of snow currently, with that also able to trigger slides.

“So don’t treat it as a typical North Shore rain event. I would definitely give avalanche terrain a wide berth today and in the coming days, as well,” Maheu added.

North Shore Rescue is urging people to stay in bounds, and to ski or travel with others if they plan to be on the mountains this weekend.

In addition, NSR is recommending people be prepared with gear, on the chance they find themselves stuck.

“Be prepared with warm clothing and good communication gear,” said Barnett.