A driver managed to escape being seriously injured when a natural avalanche partially buried his car near Revelstoke on Sunday.
B.C. says there was a small natural avalanche 46 km east of the community at about 1:00 p.m. MST that ended up closing the Trans-Canada Highway in both directions.
The slide did involve one driver, but luckily his vehicle was not buried and he was able to get out of his vehicle safely.
No one was injured in the incident.
According to a spokesperson from the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, warming temperatures likely caused the avalanche.
“The ministry continually monitors conditions and is actively conducting controls across the Service Area by Ministry Avalanche Technicians,” a statement read.
Robert Thiessen, a Calgary motorist who was at the scene, says the driver was “swept up” by the cascading snow.
“It was perched just on the embankment, on the other side of the road from where the avalanche came from, and it was 10 feet from a pretty steep edge there, so fortunately it didn't go further.”
He says crews took just under an hour to clear away the snow from the avalanche.
DriveBC noted avalanche control work was being done in that same area, between Greely Road and Jumping Creek Road, but it did not trigger this avalanche.
(With files from CTV Vancouver’s Angela Jung)
