BC’s Ministry of Transportation has shared some incredible footage of recent avalanche control work in the northwest part of the province.
The work took place along Hwy 37A near Stewart, which is around a 700-kilometre drive northwest of Prince George.
In the video, taken from a helicopter, you can see the explosives detonate at the top of the mountain, and hear them around three seconds later.
Those shake the snowpack loose and start several small avalanches, which do not stay small for long.
Within seconds, significant amounts of snow are barrelling down the mountain in a sight that is both beautiful and terrifying.
Fortunately, it’s in a controlled environment and not happening when any people or vehicles are potentially at risk.
The Province says its avalanche safety program is designed to keep British Columbia’s roads and travellers safe.
“Staff constantly monitor conditions, and if the risk of an avalanche is too great, we will close and evacuate the highway until the danger is past,” explains the Ministry of Transportation website.
“We begin regularly assessing avalanche hazard in the mountain snowpack from November through May in BC.”
Crews have their hands full this year, as BC’s snowpack is considered very weak and the avalanche risk is higher than it has been in two decades.
Multiple avalanches claimed five lives in BC during January, including a pair of Nelson police officers who were caught in a slide near Kaslo on Jan. 9.
