Coquihalla Highway reopens after avalanche control

The Coquihalla Highway reopened just before 10 a.m. PT Saturday after being closed Friday for avalanche control measures.

On Thursday, a Class 4 avalanche buried a section of the highway at the Great Bear Snowshed, and approximately 100 vehicles had to be helped off the highway.

A Class 4 avalanche is "highly destructive and could destroy a rail car and bury a house," according to the Canadian Avalanche Centre.

On Friday,helicopter crews dropped bags of explosives on steep slopes to dislodge additional snow that was sitting precariously aboveavalanche zones.

"An assessment this morning by avalanche technicians determined that the avalanche control activities carried out yesterday were successful," said B.C.'sMinistry of Transportation and infrastructurein a written statement late Saturday morning.

The Coquihalla Highway, B.C'smain east-west trade corridor, was also closed for more than a day earlier in the week,after a smaller avalanche near the summit on Tuesday.

TheCoquihallacorridor has seen overthree metres of new snow over the last 11 days.

B.C.'s transportation ministry said the recentstorm cycle "created avalanche conditions not seen in the 27 year-history of theCoquihallaHighway."

Special avalanche warning issued

The Canadian Avalanche Centre issued a special avalanche alert for this weekendand into next week warning of a very high continuing avalanche risk in most of the mountain ranges in B.C. and Alberta.

Canadian Avalanche Centre manager Karl Klassen saida prolonged drought has left the surface of the snowpack in very bad shape.

Map: Great Bear Snowshed,Coquihalla Highway