The Canadian Avalanche Centre has issued a warning that large swaths of mountainous areas in British Columbia and Alberta are at very high risk for avalanches this weekend.

The warning, which is in effect until the end of Monday, applies across B.C. in areas from the South Coast to the Rockies, where fragile layers are buried under up to two metres of new snow.

While settling snow is allowing for easier travel conditions, adventurers are warned to avoid large, steep and complex slopes.

"Backcountry users may be tempted to push into more aggressive terrain," the centre's Karl Klassen said in a statement, adding it could be "a deadly choice."

The warning applies to:

  • the Mountain National Parks (Rogers Pass, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, Jasper and Waterton Lakes);
  • Alberta's Kananaskis Country
  • the South Coast Mountains east of Pemberton (Duffy Lake region)
  • the South Chilcotin Mountains (Bridge River, Carpenter Lake, Anderson Lake area)
  • the Columbia Mountains from the US border to Prince George
  • the North Rockies, north and east of Prince George (including areas around Mackenzie, Chetwynd, Pine Pass, Tumbler Ridge, and Kakwa Provincial Park)
  • the Southern Rockies forecast region

All backcountry users are advised to bring an avalanche beacon, probe and shovel out with them and have at least basic avalanche training.

They are urged instead to stick to small, simple terrain below treeline, staying out of avalanche run-out zones.

Last week, extreme avalanche conditions in both Alberta and British Columbia led to three deaths. Two Calgary brothers were caught in a slide while backcountry skiing in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, near the B.C.-Alberta border, while another Alberta man was killed by a slide near Nelson, B.C.

Current avalanche conditions and an online avalanche course are available at Avalanche.ca.