‘Although conditions have improved, this is not the time to be skiing aggressive lines,’ Avalanche Canada says.
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Blocks of snow as large as a car buried a skier up to their neck in Kananaskis Country over the weekend, leading avalanche safety officials to call on backcountry visitors to exercise caution.
The person escaped unharmed, said Avalanche Canada in its website.
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“Although conditions have improved, this is not the time to be skiing aggressive lines, as evidenced by the close call on Sunday,” the agency said on its website.
Current avalanche ratings for the Rocky Mountains west of Calgary range from low to moderate.
Sunday’s incident was set off by a skier in Tent Bowl, Avalanche Canada said.
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“The avalanche was triggered after the fourth turn and the skier was carried down with it and buried up to their neck, but without any injuries,” it said.
“The avalanche depth varied from thin to thick … Some of the blocks were the size of a Ferrari.”
The snow slide was categorized as being a size 3, which is described as being big enough to “bury and destroy a car, damage a truck, destroy a small building, or break a few trees.”
Conditions in the mountains have improved significantly in recent weeks, after huge swaths of Alberta and B.C. were covered by a special avalanche warning, with several fatalities and other incidents reported through February and March.
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