HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

The coroner’s inquiry found that logging carried out by the service station owner was a contributing factor to
the slide. He had logged off an area above his property on Highway 16. Warmer temperatures loosened the heavy
snowpack on the mountain above the highway triggering a fast moving powder snowslide. (The Vancouver Sun, March
21, 1974).
Highway 16 between Prince Rupert-Terrace was closed for 12 days. Major slides occurred at 25 locations.
At Mile 35, a slide knocked down the telegraph) line and at least six other slides came down.
Between January 14-18, Kitimat recorded 246.2 cm of snow. This made it the second greatest snowfall in
five consecutive days, just short of the Canadian record held by Pointe-des-Monts, Que., which recorded 248.9 cm of
snow between March 16-20, 1885 (Phillips 1990). According to John Cruikshank of the Fire Department, Kitimat
recorded a total of 149.2 in. (3.78 m) of snow between January 11-22. The Terrace airport had 93.4 in. (2.37 m) of
snow.
On January 22, the roof of the Ocean Falls High School collapsed. There were no injuries because the
accident happened 1.5 hours before school started. The building had only been open since September 1972. The
collapse was caused by heavy rain on top of 16 in. (40.6 cm) of snow on the flat-roofed structure.
An avalanche at Boathouse Hill blocked the highway linking the Bella Coola townsite with the local docks
(Godfrey et al. 1974).
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*1) On February 11, 1999, this record was broken when Tahtsa Lake recorded the greatest single-day snowfall of 145
cm. (Times Colonist, January 26, 2003). On the same day, Terrace set a new one-day snowfall record with 113.1 cm.
(Terrace Standard, February 17, 1999). The total snowfall for the Terrace airport for January 1974 was a new record
for the month.
*2) Following the fatal avalanche, the provincial government engaged freelance avalanche consultant Roger Tremblay
of Stewart to set up a new system of snow control along the highway between Prince Rupert-Terrace. The Highway 16
program would be followed by the establishment of a group to study snow conditions over the province as a whole.
(The Vancouver Sun, January 31, 1974).
February 17, 1974
Event type: Fatal snow avalanche.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: The Province, February 18, 1974.
On February 17, an avalanche on Mica Mountain close to the Alberta border, 7 mi. (11.2 km) west of
Valemount killed one man and seriously injured two others. The avalanche was caused by the upper layer of snow
fracturing at the top of the mountain. Mild weather and wind conditions had led to the layering in the snow. The 0.5mi.
wide slide thundered 3,000 ft. (900 m) down the mountain. Geoffrey B. Taylor, 44, of Montreal was buried under 3
ft. (90 cm) snow and suffocated. With the aid of avalanche radios, the victim was found in a maximum of 20 minutes.
Four other skiers were treated for minor injuries. The injured skiers were on the edge of the avalanche and
were hurt when thrown against trees by the slide. All the skiers injured belonged to a party of 40 skiing in groups of 10
under an experienced guide. The groups were skiing at different levels on the 3,000-ft. ski run. The heli-skiers were a
party mainly from Germany and eastern Canada and the U.S., organised by Canadian Mountain Holidays. They were
skiing with the help of two helicopters, which carried the injured to the hospital. One helicopter almost got swept
away. It had just taken off from the bottom of the ski run when the avalanche came down.
March 6-8, 1974
Event type: Snow avalanche.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: The Province, March 9 and 13, 1974.
On March 8, a snowslide blocked about 200 ft. (60 m) of Highway 16 at Telegraph Point, approximately 50
mi. (80 km) west of Terrace. During the previous days, snow had been falling heavy in the area. The highway was
expected to reopen early on March 9. This was the first snowslide to come down onto Highway 16 since the provincial
government had set up a new system of snow control along the highway between Prince Rupert-Terrace in January.
*1)
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*1) Daily patrols and weather reports were being used to check possible snowslide sites along the highway. It was one
of the recommendations in the first report from Roger Tremblay to Highways Minister Graham Lea. (The Province,
March 13, 1974).
June13-25, 1974
Event type: Spring runoff flooding.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
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