By David F. Rooney
It took work crews two days to clear Airport Way of an avalanche that came thundering down the slopes of Mount Cartier near Greenslide Road.
Greenslide is a known avalanche chute and was the scene of an earlier avalanche in the spring of 2014.
Unlike the 2014 avalanche, much of this slide appeared to consist of water-saturated earth with a seasoning of boulders and shattered trees. It may have started high above the valley on the ridge to the right of the peak as photos taken by professional photographer Kip Wiley immediately after the avalanche occurred on Thursday show a very visible fracture line in the snow.

“I shot this from the house during a short break in the clouds this morning. The fracture line is huge and it is mind boggling to think of how much snow came down off Cartier yesterday.” You can see the fracture line just below the ridge line to the right of Cartier’s peak. Please click on the image to see a larger version of this photo. Kip Wiley photo
Work crews were quick to react and cordoned off Airport Way early Thursday afternoon. All vehicles were stopped and turned around until Saturday morning when I returned (for the third time) at 10:15 am.
Here are some photos that give you a clear idea of the scale of the slide:

