Large out-of-bounds avalanche triggered by skiers at Big White Saturday

An avalanche ‘large enough to destroy a vehicle’ at Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna Saturday was triggered by skiers, the resort says.

It happened out of bounds in the resort’s Eco Bowl behind Falcon Chair around 11:30 a.m., Big White says.

“This incident involved three skiers and should serve as a reminder of the HIGH hazards that are beyond the resort’s marked boundaries,” the resort posted on social media.

“Thankfully all three individuals that were involved are safe. However, this avalanche was large enough to destroy a motor vehicle. The avalanche hazard rating is HIGH!!”

The resort says this should serve as a reminder of the dangers involved when going outside the marked boundaries.

Other organizations have been issuing similar warnings for the past several weeks.

Avalanche forecaster Tyson Rettie says the risk of slides is rising to high or extreme in many parts of B.C., including the North Shore mountains, Sea to Sky Country, and Vancouver Island.

“We’ve already seen some avalanches in many of our regions run full path, running all the way to the valley bottom,” he said.

“So that’s part of our expectation as well, that avalanches will be large and running far.”

Rettie says there’s already a weak layer from early February that drove a special warning earlier this month. That layer, he says, “is still producing human-triggered avalanches, remotely triggered avalanches, as well as natural avalanche activity.”

Last weekend, a woman was rescued after she was buried by an avalanche on Mount Seymour. The woman and her husband were reportedly descending from Pump Peak while snowshoeing when they were hit by a small slide.

“It knocked him over, and when he got up and looked around, his wife couldn’t be seen,” North Shore Rescue Search Manager Dave Barnett said March 10.

Other avalanches this year have been deadly, with three fatalities reported in B.C. since the beginning of 2024. The most recent was in the Sale Mountain region, north of Revelstoke, on March 3, when a snow biker was caught in a slide.

“People should just stay away from the mountainous terrain and stick to lower elevations,” Barnett said.

With files from Cole Schisler and Hana Mae Nassar.