Anyone from Prince George looking to venture out into the backcountry this Family Day long weekend might want to think twice.
Avalanche Canada is reporting “considerable” risks within the northern Rockies region.
Central Interior spokesperson, Marty Anderson told MyPGNow.com a lot of people often get fooled once the rating dips below high or extreme.
“As soon as the risk is lower than that they feel it is safe for them to go. They don’t realize considerable is still a bad rating, considerable means that natural and human triggered avalanches are likely to occur.”
Some avalanche activity has been spotted along the Torpy Mountain area this month.
Anderson adds the area is often a tricky spot at the best of times.
“The Torpy area can be tricky at any time of the year, the north Rockies forecast covers a very large area of the central interior and the Torpy is one small part of it.”
Conditions can get even dicier after a significant shift in the weather.
“Any sudden change is bad, a fast-warming trend worsens the conditions, a fast cooling trend worsens conditions and the actual temperature is just one part of what the forecasters use when they make their ratings.”
Anderson states any area that receives over 25 cm of snow in the next 24 hours should be considered a high-avalanche danger.