Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Risk of Revelstoke-type avalanche not great in Whistler

But fresh snow increased avalanche rating to considerable While it is always wise to use caution when heading into the backcountry the risk of triggering an avalanche like the fatal Revelstoke one this week is less likely around Whistler.

But fresh snow increased avalanche rating to considerable

While it is always wise to use caution when heading into the backcountry the risk of triggering an avalanche like the fatal Revelstoke one this week is less likely around Whistler.

"Most of what we are finding in our snowpack around here is a very stable," said Ken Hardy, of Whistler Heli-Skiing early this week.

Hardy and several staff spent time this week with a world renowned avalanche expert doing profiles.

"The results we found were pretty stable," he said.

Hardy said there is a world of difference between the Coast Mountain Range and the Interior Mountains where the Monday slide killed seven people.

The slab avalanche on the Durrand Glacier was 30 metres wide and 100 metres long and buried the victims in up to four metres of snow.

"We tend to have a much more stable snow pack in the Coast Range than they have in the Interior," said Hardy.

"You get the majority of the instabilities from shallow snow packs and cold temperatures. From that you get the breakdown of the snow.

"It doesn’t tend to happen as much here and when it does happen the warmer temperatures that we get out here allow it to bond more quickly."

At press time Wednesday, the local avalanche risk was upgraded to considerable on the Whistler-Blackcomb site.

That is defined as natural avalanches being possible and human triggered avalanches probable.

Earlier in the week it was listed as moderate, the same rating given the area where the Revelstoke slide occurred.

The moderate rating means "…that natural avalanches are unlikely, human triggered avalanches are possible and so the recommended action is to use caution in steeper terrain," said Nigel Stewart, assistant avalanche forecaster for Whistler-Blackcomb.

The CAA Web site says this of the South Coast Region: "Surface hoar buried on Christmas Day is now 75-100 cm down and continues to be a potential failure plane.

"A layer of crust and facets from early December remains weak and is down near the base of the snowpack.

"When asking yourself what sort of terrain to enter, remember what an unusual sort of snowpack exists on the Coast this winter.

"Triggering of deep instabilities such as the ones buried right now remains a possibility.

"Long periods of seemingly stable conditions may pass and then very subtle changes or just the right trigger may bring about large avalanches."

Stewart said the situation locally is "tricky."

"All the indicators show that the stability is good and you almost want to lean toward very good," he said.

"However, we do know that there is this deep instability and at some point it is definitely going to rear its head, and we also have that crust down below as well.

"I would use caution and just beware that if you are unlucky a stiff slab like that is going to do a lot of damage to a human body."

The Revelstoke avalanche claimed seven lives.

One of those was world famous snowboarder 36-year-old Craig Kelly, who was leading the group of skiers when the wall of snow let go and crashed down the mountain.

Local K2 professional snowboarder and Whistler Freeride Team member Brian Savard knew Kelly and travelled with him to Iran several years ago.

"It was a huge blow to hear about this," said Savard who described Kelly as one of his idols.

"Everyone looked up to him. Craig pretty much set the bar for numerous years at the highest level of snowboarding performance. Back then he was racing and doing freestyle. He was all around world champion.

"He probably contributed more to snowboarding than anyone will in the history of this sport because he was a pioneer. He made huge contributions to the sport and product development.

"He could do it like no one else could. He had so much technique and so much finesse he made it look so easy, but at the same time he was so powerful.

"He was unmatched even to today.

"To snowboarding, he was like Michael Jordan is to basketball."

Three others were caught in the snow but managed to dig themselves out. They extricated an eighth person who was taken to hospital then released.

The skiers were with Selkirk Mountain Experience, ranked as a top adventure tour outfitter by National Geographic, Outside Magazine and many others.

Officials say it is too early to determine what triggered the avalanche, but the RCMP’s preliminary investigation has turned up no evidence of negligence. A coroner continues to investigate.

In the past five winters 70 people have died in avalanches in Canada. Of those five were involved in commercial operations such as this.

Of the 70 fatalities, 50 occurred in B.C., at a rate of about 10 a year.

The North Columbia Avalanche bulletin, which covers the disaster site, rates the risk as considerable.

"The problem we have is that there are a couple of layers buried within the snowpack," said Evan Manners.

"The first one was laid down in November from a rain event. It rained right to the mountaintop then froze shortly afterward.

"Then the second is a layer from Christmas Day where a surface hoar layer was buried by that storm we saw.

"Since then things have been slowly improving but we still know that those layers show up as an instability in the snow pack."

The risk may increase again if snow falls as predicted as its weight will put pressure on the buried layers.

Anyone thinking of heading into the backcountry should check the CAA bulletin before going at www.avalanche.ca .