[MCR] large slides in the south coast mtns

This is second and third hand info but worth passing on.

 

There have been a number of very large slides in the south coast mountains. Avalanches up to size 4 with 3 metre crowns are being reported failing on the December 5th interface. These occurred last weekend in the Whistler area both within the ski area boundary where heavy skier compaction occurred for the whole winter, as well as outside the boundary in areas with less skier use. This cycle was triggered by rapid warming (the first significant warmup of the spring) where 30 degree temps were observed at valley bottom.

 

This may be an indication of what is happening/has happened in other areas or what may happen elsewhere during significant warming events, especially if it's the first major warmup in a your area.

 

You will recall that the Dec 5th layer was widespread so just because you are far from the south coast region is no reason to believe you are immune to this kind of event.

 

Photos are circulating (they are impressive) but they came to me via a third party so I do not feel I can attach them. Apparently the photos have been posted on YouTube or Facebook or MySpace? but I don't frequent those sites so don't know where or how to find them. Perhaps someone who is more social network savvy than me can find them and let people know where to look.

 

Karl Klassen
Mountain Guide
1735 Westerburg Road
Revelstoke,  BC
Canada
V0E 2S1
250-837-3733
kklassen@rctvonline.net