VANCOUVER — The avalanche deaths of two skiers in central interior British Columbia this month prompted an emotional plea for this season’s dangerous conditions by the leader of a volunteer search and rescue team.
Rick White, the chief of the Central Cariboo Search and Rescue Team in Williams Lake, announced Thursday that one of the people killed in a landslide on Potato Peak southwest of Williams Lake on February 11 was a member of his team .
White called the member’s death “devastating” and in his statement highlighted the “terribly unforgiving” avalanche risks this season across the province.
Nate Fochler, a ski guide in Revelstoke, BC, said this year’s snow pack has actually created dangerous conditions in the backcountry, with spikes in freezing temperatures creating what is known as a “deep sustained weak snow layer.”
“The likelihood of triggering it is small, but the consequences would be very high if you did trigger it,” Fochler said. “Across the industry, everyone is trying to avoid the same type of terrain.” Fochler said snow pack this year is similar to BC’s in 2003, a particularly deadly year for avalanches, after two slides within two weeks in the United States 14 people died near Revelstoke.
The risks that come with the backcountry can never be eliminated, only mitigated, Fochler said.
“Nature is bigger than us,” he said. “Even guides with decades of experience still get into bad situations.”
Fochler said it’s understandable that search and rescue workers warn people not to go into the backcountry wherever there is a risk of avalanches, but for leaders like him, it’s his livelihood.
“Even if it’s dangerous, I still have to do my job,” he said. “In a perfect world we just wouldn’t ski when it’s dangerous, but that’s not always sensible, so it’s just a matter of mitigating and trying to manage the hazards as best you can.”
In a statement released in late January, Avalanche Canada’s Ryan Buhler expressed concerns about upcoming weather conditions that “may have motivated people to venture into terrain previously unappealing in inclement weather.”
“The temptation may be great, but we warn people not to venture into uncharted or unknown territory,” says Bühler.
He says they often use terms like “conservative” or “patient” in their forecasts for good reason.
“We use these to say that people should stick to easy, safe terrain and not let boredom or ambition lure them into larger terrain features. It takes a lot of discipline to spend the whole season with simple goals, but that’s the mindset the pros are using at the moment.”
Fochler said this year’s snowpack was “scary” but not unmanageable and he will stick to safe and familiar terrain rather than embark on adventures as wild temperature swings are in the forecast.
“This year just isn’t the year to go really radical,” he said. “Those mountains will still be there next year… Is skiing that line worth potentially killing yourself? Probably not.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on February 19, 2023.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
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