Today (December 1) is not the day to be exploring the Cariboo backcountry.
“We’re expecting high avalanche hazard at all elevations.” Tyson Rettie, Avalanche Forecaster with Avalanche Canada said, “We’ve got rising freezing levels, incoming precipitation, strong winds, all the makings of a big avalanche cycle. This is a great time to spread the word and let people know that it’s a good time to take the day off and stay out of the backcountry.”
Rettie said he can’t recall when Avalanche Canada would have used such a high rating this early in the season.
“The Cariboo’s, we’ve rated the forecast there for today (December 1) High, High, High at all elevations, but when you look a little bit south down into sort of the Northern Columbian Region we actually have extreme hazard there and extreme hazard in other parts of the province so its a very, very, dangerous time to be in the mountains.”
Rettite added it’s only the first of December and we have a long season ahead of us and it’s really important that we don’t rush things and make dangerous decisions early in the season.
A good way to prepare for that, Rettie said, is to take an avalanche course if you haven’t and all that information is available on the Avalanche Canada website.