Special avalanche warning in place for huge swath of Alberta Rockies

Experts are urging those hitting the slopes in major areas of Alberta’s Rockies to use extreme caution as a special public avalanche warning is being extended into the weekend.

Avalanche Canada has extended its avalanche warning for Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks and Alberta’s Kananaskis Country. The warning was originally issued on February 29.

The warning will be in place until the end of the day on Sunday, March 10, and has been extended due to a variety of weak layers, established in early February, that are now buried anywhere from 40 to 100 cm deep in these regions.

“After recent storms, the forecast is for clear skies and warmer temperatures in the Rocky Mountains. This combination of factors has the potential for challenging avalanche conditions,” the warning stated.

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Avalanche Canada added that the persistent weak layers remain very active and easy to trigger, and any avalanche triggered on them will be large enough to injure or even kill a person. The sun’s effect will also make natural and human-triggered avalanches more likely over the weekend.

“It is vital to maintain careful, cautious decision-making during this time. Avoid areas with overhead hazard and stick to smaller, lower-angle slopes with low consequences. The new snow and blue skies will be tempting, but recreationists should be careful not to let this influence decisions,” the warning added.

The special warning has been dropped for the rest of Avalanche Canada’s regions, but it cautions that dangerous avalanche conditions will still exist in some areas.