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It's avalanche season, warns K-Country safety specialist

A public safety expert is reminding Kananaskis Country users that it’s that time of year once again to have safety front of mind.

'Make sure you have avalanche gear and the training and knowledge to know how to use it'

A caution sign sits next to the edge of a mountain.
'This time of year we typically see an avalanche involving an ice climber,' says public safety specialist Mike Koppang. (Mark Matulis/CBC)

A public safety expert is reminding Kananaskis Country users that it's that time of year once again to have safety front of mind.

"It's avalanche season," Mike Koppang said in a Facebook video posted this weekend.

"If you are heading to these places, make sure you have avalanche gear and the training and knowledge to know how to use it."

Koppang is a Kananaskis Country public safety specialist.

He says now is a good time to think about the potential dangers of climbing, especially after the huge dump of snow that hit the area early last week.

"This time of year we typically see an avalanche involving an ice climber. It's happened for a number of years. We put out this early season warning to make people kind of think about it," Koppang said.

"There is lots of big terrain over these routes and it's just easy for that to slip out of people's minds."

More heavy snow is in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday according to Environment Canada. The agency said a period of snow could arrive Monday afternoon, continuing into the next day.