Massive Avalanche Hits Coquihalla: Closed Indefinitely

A massive avalanche has closed the Coquihalla highway indefinitely. According to Chilliwack Search and Rescue they were dispatched to the highway in case any further incidents occurred. The Ministry of Transportation says no one was caught in the slide but the SAR team was still asked to standby.

The avalanche is being called a Class 4 slide which means it is large enough to destroy a rail car and bury a house. On the avalanche class rating system the scale goes from 1-5. The Coquihalla has been closed for much of this week. A small slide came down on Tuesday forcing its closure for more than 24 hours. Then Thursday morning the highway was shut down again because of the high avalanche risk.

DriveBC had issued a statement saying avalanche control would take place for much of Thursday with the opening of the route around 11:00 p.m. According to the Ministry of Transportation the slide hit at 11:30 a.m. Please check DriveBC for the most up to date information.

The Ministry of Transportation says heavy snowfall is expected to continue over the Coquihalla throughout the night. Once conditions ease avalanche control work will take place but they do not anticipate that will take place before nightfall.

According to the Ministry this current storm cycle on the Coquihalla corridor has resulted in avalanche conditions that have not been seen during the 27 years the highway has been open.

A detour is available via Highway 1 at Kamloops and Hope or via Highway 8 at Merritt.

#Coquihalla closed: high avalanche hazard. Too windy for helicopter bombing/avalanche control now: pic.twitter.com/cH4ktPfrwC

— BC Transportation (@TranBC) February 20, 2014

Chilliwack #SAR on standby with @ValleyHeli to assist Hope SAR and MoT with Class 4 avalanche on the Coquihalla Hwy

— Chilliwack SAR (@ChilliwackSAR) February 20, 2014

Coquihalla Great Bear Snowshed
Great Bear Snowshed looking north.