I just came out of the field and am working in the CAC Public Avalanche
Warning Service office this week. Today we received several reports of
unexpected, unusual, large, and destructive avalanches that ran in the last 24
hours. These occurred after major precipitation and winds had ended and as/after
temperatures cooled off. Several size 3 – 3.5 and one size 4.5 that dammed the
Illecillewaet River east of Revelstoke:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/revelstoketimesreview/news/114169389.html
We are not yet certain about what is causing these avalanches and whether
this kind of activity is likely to continue. However, it might be wise to be
wary for the next few days until we see if this is a short term problem or
something that might be longer lived. If/when we figure out what’s happening
we’ll put information and advice in the CAC avalanche forecasts at:
http://www.avalanche.ca/cac/bulletins/latest
I must stress that several of these avalanches surprised professionals,
some of whom are very senior practitioners with many, many years of experience.
Stay safe out there.
Karl
Klassen
Mountain Guide
Revelstoke,
BC