VANCOUVER — As another powerful winter storm dumps snow across much of B.C.’s central and eastern regions, avalanche experts are warning people to stay out of backcountry areas of the province.
The new snow is falling on mountains already heavily laden after heavy snow during the last week, including one instance when more than a metre fell in 48 hours in eastern B.C.
The Canadian Avalanche Centre says the avalanche risk is high from the alpine right into the treeline in coastal areas, and the risks are nearly the same in interior regions.
Avalanches and the threat of slides blocked the Trans-Canada Highway from eastern B.C. to Alberta for five days before the road was finally cleared late Wednesday.
Meanwhile, police have identified 46-year-old Manfred Rockel of Calgary as the man killed last Sunday in an avalanche in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park near Nelson, B.C.
Two Calgary brothers were killed in a separate avalanche last weekend while backcountry skiing in Kananaskis Country, west of Calgary.