Big backcountry melt has B.C. search and rescue crews issuing warnings

Unseasonably warm and wet conditions in B.C.’s South Coast have search and rescue teams in the region issuing warnings about backcountry conditions.

“The past two weeks have significantly transformed alpine conditions,” Squamish Search and Rescue (SSAR) wrote on social media. “Now [it] resembles early to late spring.”

SSAR is urging people to exercise “extreme caution” as it explains all creeks are open, snow bridges below the treeline are weak, and lake ice is thin — “especially under a skier’s weight.”

The SSAR says it was called out on Sunday after receiving reports from a man who had fallen through thin ice at Garibaldi Lake.

“With assistance, he got himself out and called for help. Our team met him in a nearby hut as he was trying to warm himself up,” the SSAR said.

The warning comes as heavy rain and record-breaking warmth hit southwestern British Columbia at the end of January.

The unseasonable warm spell ushered in by a stream of moisture-laden Pacific air has set daily temperature records and accelerated snowmelt, with the Village of Pemberton declaring a state of local emergency in response to flooding.