An avalanche claimed the life of one man in southeast B.C. on Sunday, RCMP have confirmed.
He was one of three snowmobilers riding in the Forster Creek area below Thunderwater Lake, about 90 kilometres southwest of Banff, when the slide came down, according to an Avalanche Canada incident report.
“One rider triggered an avalanche on a steep, rocky, northeast facing, wind-affected slope and was fully buried,” the report says. “A companion rescue was carried out with assistance from other riders in the area.”
Avalanche Canada classified the slide as a Size 2.5, on a five-point scale. A Size 2 is big enough to bury, injure or kill a person.
Cpl. James Grandy said in a statement that Columbia Valley RCMP received an SOS activation from a satellite communicator on Sunday, indicating that there had been an avalanche and one person was buried.
“The victim was taken by helicopter to the Invermere Hospital where sadly, despite all the life saving measures, they were pronounced deceased,” said Grandy.
It is the second avalanche-related death this season in B.C. Last week, a skier died in Golden, B.C., after a Size 2 avalanche on Kapristo Mountain was triggered.
Earlier this week, Avalanche Canada warned of an increased avalanche risk in parts of the province — raising the danger level to the fourth highest category, on a scale of five. This came amid special weather statements from Environment Canada warning of wind and heavy rainfall.
“We’ve seen widespread natural and human-triggered avalanches already this week, and we’re expecting that to continue with warm temperatures and sunshine through the rest of the week,” said avalanche forecaster Wendy Lewis.
She added that B.C. is seeing considerable avalanche danger, due to several persistent weak layers in the snowpack that are stressed by new snow and warmer temperatures.
“People can often underestimate considerable avalanche danger, but we do expect avalanche activity to occur,” she said. “It is the danger rating that often catches most people out and causes the most accidents and incidents.”
CBC News has reached out to Columbia Valley Search and Rescue for comment.
