An avalanche warning has been issued this weekend for many of the mountain parks in the Rockies.
The warning is in effect for Banff, Yoho, Kootenay and Jasper national parks, as well as Kananaskis.
“The snowpack in these areas of the Rockies is complex this year. There is a deep persistent weak layer at the base of the snowpack, which has recently been overloaded by snow and wind and nearly a week of abnormally high freezing levels,” said Parks Canada in a release.
Parks Canada said there have been a number of usually large avalanches, both natural and explosive-triggered, which have lead forecasters to have a low confidence in this year’s snowpack.
“Sunny skies will attract many people to the mountains this weekend; however this weather pattern will be slow to stabilize the snowpack until the beginning of next week,” said Parks.
Parks says conditions remain prime for human triggering and recommend backcountry users with little or no avalanche training avoid avalanche terrain. The terrain should be avoided completely when temperatures are the warmest, especially when the sun is out.
The warning is in effect through to Sunday, Feb. 15.
