Deadly Avalanches Hit Japan, Alberta And Oregon; Portugal Sees "Huge Snowfalls"; Arctic Sea Ice Riding Well-Above Average; + The Day The Sun Brought Darkness
Arctic sea ice extent today matches that of 1995, when Al Gore was vice-president.
Deadly Avalanches Hit Japan, Alberta And Oregon
Japan Today is reporting two New Zealanders were killed in a Hokkaido avalanche on Monday.
The pair were guides, part of a group of six backcountry skiers tackling Mount Yotei.
A third New Zealander suffered a shoulder injury, according to Kyodo News, but will survive.
The Japanese Society of Snow and Ice said that, based on a field survey, the incident was a large “surface avalanche”, in which a fresh layer of snow comes loose and slips, measuring about 2km in length and some 20m wide.
Headed to North America, an Avalanche Canada report dated March 12 reads: "Over the weekend, there were lots of reports of avalanches, sadly including a fatal accident in Kananaskis Country as well as other close calls."
The center issued a collage of the recent slips (shown below), with the note: "These are just a few of the other avalanches posted since Friday and demonstrate how challenging conditions are in many places."
Two skiers "triggered a large avalanche" near what's known as the Engadine burn area and were "pushed into the trees," continues the report.
One was able to escape by digging himself out of the snow; however, the second, a 19-year-old male, was buried and killed.
Two other "close calls" were reported by skiers in the area , one near Burstall Pass and another near Tryst Lake.
A host of slips have been triggered south of the border too, in the United States.
Avalanche forecaster, Nick Burks, was killed in Oregon last week while backcountry skiing on Gunsight Mountain.
Burks, an avalanche specialist for the Wallowa Avalanche Center in Joseph, was carried down the mountain by the moving snow, and despite resuscitation attempts by his colleague was sadly pronounced dead that the scene.
"Resort skiing and backcountry skiing are night and day,” asserted Craig Gordon, an avalanche forecaster for the Utah Avalanche Center. On resort slopes, "the ski patrol have knocked down avalanches long before we arrive. If we head into the back country, avalanches are not being knocked down for us."
In about a quarter of all avalanche deaths, the cause is trauma, such as slamming into trees. Other victims die from asphyxiation, buried beneath the snow.
Portugal Sees "Huge Snowfalls"
Portugal’s ski area, Serra da Estrela, says it has "the most open terrain in years" after "huge snowfalls" hit over the weekend.
Like most ski areas across Europe, Serra da Estrela is copping something of a late-season deluge.
A monstrous storm Friday - Sunday buried lifts and buildings under meters of snow:
Despite access issues, the area is fully open with 22 runs available.
“Excessive snow closed highway in PORTUGAL. Local: Penhas da Saúde city, Serra da Estrela.” — Joao Carlos on X
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