This year\u2019s snowpack is unusual and dangerous for avalanches.<\/p>\n
\u201cProfessionals with decades of experience suggest that this weak of a snowpack is only seen once every ten or even 20 years,\u201d said Zoe Ryan, a public avalanche forecaster with \u00a0Avalanche Canada based in Revelstoke.<\/p>\n
The snowpack is shallow, and a cold-snap in December means there is \u201cweak, sugary snow at the base,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n
That means the snowpack has what\u2019s called a \u201cdeep, persistent slab problem,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s high consequence,\u201d she said, \u201cmeaning it has the capability of producing very large avalanches.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are also weak layers present throughout the snowpack, making it even more unpredictable.<\/p>\n
The snowpack is surprising everyone, Ryan said, from recreationalists to seasoned backcountry professionals.<\/p>\n
For example, avalanches are being triggered remotely. That means riders have to pay attention to slopes above and adjacent to them, as well as the ones they're on.<\/p>\n
This is most likely to be a problem in areas that haven't been tracked yet this winter, Ryan said.<\/p>\n
\"So we really encourage people to stick to areas that have been heavily tracked throughout the winter, and avoid venturing into untouched zones.\"<\/p>\n
Ryan herself is aligning her ski goals for the year with the conditions. Managing risk doesn\u2019t mean people can\u2019t have fun, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m heading out I\u2019m thinking about choosing low angle terrain, and enjoying the simplicity of getting out with my friends, or getting some exercise and being in the outdoors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Click below to listen to a full interview.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This year\u2019s snowpack is unusual and dangerous for avalanches. \u201cProfessionals with decades of experience suggest that this weak of a snowpack is only seen once every ten or even 20 years,\u201d said Zoe Ryan, a public avalanche forecaster with \u00a0Avalanche Canada based in Revelstoke. The snowpack is shallow, and a cold-snap in December means there…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":138367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,221,222,204],"tags":[22167,22941,22940,22942,4628,14716,4632,21893],"radio":[14658],"origine":[280,14660,231],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138370"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138370"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138377,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138370\/revisions\/138377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138370"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=138370"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=138370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}