Metre of snow wallops Mount Washington, stranding hundreds

Cars buried, travellers trapped in B.C. snowstorm The great dig-out continued Monday at Mount Washington after a storm dropped more than a metre of snow in one day, stranding hundreds.

Hundreds of people spent the night on floors or in their vehicles after more than a metre of snow fell at Mount Washington Alpine Resort over the weekend.

The resort was slammed with 110 centimetres of snow in just 24 hours starting Saturday afternoon, bringing traffic to a complete standstill and forcing some to take shelter where they could.

"There was cars lined up for as long as the eye could see for hours, and it was beginning to be a situation," one man told CTV News.

"Yeah we were stuck for like, eight hours," another traveller said. "Left at 3:30, we were stuck on the side of the road and some nice people let us get in their cabin, but 12 o'clock is when we left."

Staff at the ski resort opened up the resort Saturday night to provide shelter for those left out in the cold.

"We made sure last night that everybody was looked after. Two of our senior managers did a last-minute sweep at about one o'clock in the morning," said general manager Peter Gibson. "We had people last night camping out in the alpine lodge and down at the Raven."

A Scout troop visiting from Victoria was among those caught up in the blizzard. The troop spent nine hours in a vehicle waiting to come down from the mountain and ended up sleeping on a floor in the lodge to wait out the storm.

"There was a huge nacho party. It was apparently pretty epic, but not a lot of sleep," said Richard Purnell, whose son was one of those stranded.

CTV cameraman Wells Gaetz was with the troop when it happened and said a day trip of snowshoeing at the resort turned into a marathon sleepover.

"We had lots of gear, change of clothes because we were prepared for the day, so we weren't too concerned," said Gaetz. "It was just a matter of wanting to get the kids home."

While many people were stuck trying to come down from Mount Washington, hundreds of others were turned away from travelling there Sunday due to a high avalanche risk.

Vehicles parked along the road leading up to the resort were buried under several feet of snow, and many spent Sunday digging them out.

Emcon Services, the company contracted to clear the road, said it deployed extra resources Sunday but many vehicles were ill-equipped to handle the snowy conditions.

"Soon as you spin out on one of the steeper grades, then the traffic that's coming up or down the mountain all comes to a stop and they quickly just pile up behind each other," said operations manager Stewart Westwood.

The resort and its access road were reopened Monday, and Mount Washington said four out of five lifts were once again operational.

The Vancouver Island Avalanche Centre still listed an "Extreme" danger rating for alpine areas on Monday and warned that the fresh snow will take "significant time to gain stability and strength."