Snowpack a 'house of cards,' says Avalanche Canada after death of off-duty Nelson police officer

A backcountry avalanche in southeastern British Columbiathat killed an off-duty police officer and injured anothercomes at a time whenAvalanche Canada says the snowpack across much of Western Canada is unusually weak.

Thenot-for-profit organization based in Revelstoke, B.C.,warned Sundaythatlengthy periods of drought late into last year and cold weather starting in November have contributed to weak layers in B.C.'s snowpack, making it more vulnerable to avalanches.

"Everywhere in British Columbia, every slope right nowis suspect," said Grant Helgeson, a senior forecasterwith Avalanche Canada.

Nelson police identified the officer who died as Const.WadeTittemore, 43, a married father of two who had been with the force for four years after moving from Calgary.

The second officer, Const. Mathieu Nolet, 28, remains in critical condition in an intensive care unit.

Tittemore and Nolet were skiingnear Empire Cabin, northwest of Kaslo, B.C., when the avalanche struck around noon Monday and swept the men away in a "bowl-type area," NPD Chief Donovan Fisher said.

Avalanche Canada rated the slide that caught the officers as Size 3 big enough to destroy carsor small buildings.

"It wasn't like a super dangerous, gnarly slope," Helgeson said."Too often, when you think of avalanche fatalities, you think of big risk-takers, and that's not what these folks were doing out there."

He says the problem would've been the "very dangerous," unpredictablesnowpack.

"It really is a house of cards at this point," he said. "It's really hard to trust anything."

Avalanche Canada said in a post on its website that some professionals are comparing this year's snowpack to 2003, "which was one of the worst years on record for avalanche fatalities.''

In January of that year, Craig Kelly, one of the best professional snowboarders at the time, was one of seven people killedin an avalanche on the Durrand Glacier near Revelstoke.

A month later, seven high school students diedafter being caught in an avalanche in southeastern B.C.

'Time to chill out'

On Mondaynight,the avalanche danger ratingfor the region around Kaslo was at Level 3 on its five-point scale,meaning natural avalanches were possible and human-triggered ones were "likely."

Helgeson urges backcountry users to exercise more caution than normaland "choose conservative terrain."

"It's just time to chill out and take a step back because we don't have a good understanding of what the snowpack is capable [of]as we saw yesterday," he said.

WATCH |Experts offer safety training as forecasters predict a severe avalanche season in B.C.:

Expert advice on avalanche safety in B.C.'s backcountry

2 years ago

Duration 1:04

Eric Dumerac of Mountain Skills Academy and Adventure and Monte Johnston of Black Sheep Adventure Sports offer up advice on equipment and training to stay safe in B.C.'s backcountry during the winter season.

Search and rescue teams are urging backcountry users to train and prepare before going out in the snow.

Dwight Yochim, senior manager with the B.C. Search and Rescue Association, says anyone who enjoys B.C.'s outdoors in the winter should get training onhow to identify avalanche terrain.

"Anywhere where there's a slope and snow, you can be in avalanche terrain," he said

Yochimsays those heading into the backcountry should be carrying avalanche emergency equipment, including snow probes, shovels, an avalanche transceiverand personal locator beacons satellite-synced devices that can send an SOS signal with your location to rescue agencies.