Big White gives warning after skiers trigger large avalanche

An image posted by Big White Ski Resort shows a backcountry avalanche on Saturday, March 16.

A ski resort in B.C.’s Okanagan is warning visitors to stay within its boundaries after skiers triggered a large avalanche over the weekend.

On Saturday around 11:30 a.m., three skiers caused the event in the backcountry in the Eco Bowl behind the Falcon Chair, Big White Ski Resort said in a social media post.

The resort added that all three individuals are safe.

“However, this avalanche was large enough to destroy a motor vehicle. The avalanche hazard rating is HIGH!,” the post reads.

“Please do not go out of the resort boundaries if you are not prepared and knowledgeable about the conditions and have the proper equipment.”

According to Avalanche Canada, the hazard rating is currently four out of five or “high” across southern B.C.

“A combination of existing snowpack instabilities and unseasonably warm weather means the potential for large and dangerous avalanches,” a Wednesday blog post from Avalanche Canada forecaster Simon Horton explains.

He goes on to write that much of Western Canada has been “entrenched in a pattern of large human-triggered avalanches” that have happened almost daily since the beginning of March due to a weak layer of crust that formed last month.

The agency urges nature-goers to choose routes that don’t require exposure to avalanche terrain, avoid crossing below avalanche paths and remember that avalanches can be triggered remotely from low-angle terrain.