Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow — in the last few days, Squamish has become a line from a Christmas carol.
But the beautiful white scenery has a caveat, which has come in the form of numerous accidents on the Sea to Sky Highway.
On Dec. 22, the first day of snow in town, Squamish RCMP posted on Twitter that 25 vehicles slid off the road and into a ditch by the Big Orange Bridge and Rubble Creek.
It was around the same time that Environment Canada predicted that up to four centimetres of snow would fall.
The accidents prompted officers to issue an driving advisory.
"As temperatures throughout the Sea to Sky Corridor will remain at or below the freezing level, the Squamish RCMP would like to remind drivers that they should slow down and drive for the road and weather conditions," Cpl. Kelly Dean said in an email to The Chief at the time.
Though that was perhaps the most dramatic example of roadside troubles, there were some other peculiarities, as well.
A day later, officers posted that they caught a driver doing donuts in a parking lot with summer tires.
“FACT: Majority of drivers on #hwy99 have winter tires,collisions occur when people drive too fast for conditions.. but if we get called because you’re doing donuts in a parking lot with summer tires, you will get a $109 ticket and a tow bill to get you back to the LMD #lastnight,” read an tweet from Squamish RCMP on Dec. 23.
At that point, weather forecasts were predicting a snowfall that would blanket the Sea to Sky region in up to 20 centimetres.
While it wasn’t a cause for celebration for anyone in the driver’s seat, it was certainly a boon for those who wanted to travel north and hit the slopes.
On Dec. 23, Whistler Blackcomb reported 24 centimetres of snow overnight. As a result, 23 of the 26 lifts opened their gates, allowing riders to speed down 149 of the 240 trails.
However, resort officials cautioned that things could get hairy outside the groomed terrain.
Heavy snowfall would make un-groomed areas treacherous, they said.
While white stuff is hiccuping here and there, today the flurries resumed in full force. About four centimetres were forecast as of tonight, with the expectation of a shift to rain, then sun, then back to snow in the days after.
A 30 per cent chance of flurries is expected on New Year's day.
ICBC released statistics in December that said during the Christmas holidays and New Year's, 510 people are injured and two people are killed in 1,890 crashes every year in B.C., averaging 35 crashes and nine people injured every hour.
