Snowboarder in Haines Pass triggers avalanche 'big enough to bury a person'

Avalanche season has begun in the Haines Pass area and one expert says there are signs thatit may be a bad winter there.

On Saturday, a snowboardertriggered an avalanche in the NadahiniCreek area. Nobody was hurt, but ErikStevens of the HainesAvalanche Centersays it's a warning.

"It's not looking like a very good start to the season,to be honest," said Stevens.

He says there's a thin base of snow right now, and that can become a big concernas more snow accumulates.

"That can be a problem through the first half or maybe even the whole winter ... when you get that really weak base set up, it can't really hold up all the heavy new snow that falls on top of it later on," Stevenssaid.

He says snow typically piles up faster around this time of year. This is usually when the first observational data is collected, as well.

Stevens says the Saturday avalanche was "decent-sized."

"Definitely big enough to bury a person, but thankfully no one was caught and they ended up alright," he said.

"It was a scary situation for them, and it's a really good warning for the rest of us skiers out there thatit's definitely avalanche season."