Another Snowmobiler Dies in Avalanche

Saturday, April 11, 2009 04:36 PM

Valemount, B.C.- An Alberta man has died in an avalanche south of Valemount.

RCMP say they got the report of the slide in the Monashee Mountains, approximately 25 kilometres south of Valemount, near the Clemina Creek snowmobiling area yesterday afternoon.

RCMP officers, BC Ambulance Service, Robson Valley Search and Rescue responded immediately. Details are still being pieced together but it is believed that a number of snowmobilers were taking turns riding up a slope when one of them triggered the avalanche and was buried by it near the bottom of the hill. Other snowmobilers were eventually able to locate and dig out the victim and start CPR.

Unfortunately, efforts to revive the victim were unsuccessful and the 24 year old male victim from Sherwood Park, Alberta was declared dead on scene. No others were caught in the avalanche or injured by it. Name of the deceased male is being withheld pending notification of Next of Kin. The RCMP and BC Coroners Service continue to investigate.

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Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2009 04:36 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: gus on April 11 2009 9:08 PM

So how does one stop these suicidal tendencies????

Maybe one doesn't. Why bother reporting it? I remember when I moved here from Ontario many moons ago, they used to report the number of traffic fatalities on the highways on weekends, with special attention paid to long weekends. Don't see much of that anymore. I mean, if there is a traffic fatality in Kamloops, do we hear about it here? Not unless it is a major accident.

This is a single death. A death caused by stupidity. This is not the fault of the avalanche. The cause of death is not the "avalanche". The root cause is people thinking it won't happend to them.

Posted by: He spoke on April 11 2009 9:46 PM

snowmobiling in the mountains is a danger sport. Thus the risk is the thrill. How many lives this season, twenty, twenty five.

Posted by: gus on April 11 2009 11:31 PM

I does not have to be. This person and the ones on the video a few days ago are not trail riding snowmobilers. They are hill climbers or "high marking", looking for steep, treeless slopes, typically prime avalanche conditions given the right weather conditions.

Not much different than drag racing on urban streets streets. Except it is not outlawed.

Posted by: lostfaith on April 11 2009 11:44 PM

Sledding in the mountains is a fantastic sport. It is also one that requires the use of common sense.
As with anything...riding a bike, paddling a canoe, walking down the street, driving to work, taking the bus, flying to Hawaii or crossing the road, if those doing these thing don't use common sense then they may get bit.
More people die from auto crashes, starvation, war or crossing the street every year than they do sledding. So whats the big friggen deal? Why the big uproar over sledders enjoying their lives?

Suicidal tendencies? I think not. More so a lack of common sense perhaps.
Just because some people don't get the opportunity to enjoy the sport doesn't mean it's fair game for attacks on those that do.

Remember... your time may come at any minute. Enjoy your life while you can and stop criticising those that already do.

Posted by: lostfaith on April 11 2009 11:44 PM

Take a pill Gus!

Posted by: lostfaith on April 11 2009 11:46 PM

Just because you are stuck in your apartment at your keyboard doesn't mean you have the right to attack those with a life.

Posted by: Oldun on April 12 2009 12:17 AM

Is there a reason why the majority of those killed in sledding accidents this season are from Alberta?

Posted by: lostfaith on April 12 2009 12:26 AM

Do you know how many times that question has been asked already?

What difference does it make?

Tell us why if you know.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on April 12 2009 7:05 AM

Most Albertans go to Valemount and McBride, so chances are they are the ones that are going to get killed. They also have to put more effort into getting to BC, so also might just enjoy the hills just a bit more than they should, whereas people from BC might take a more laid back approach to a day in the hills as we see the hills every day.

Posted by: gus on April 12 2009 7:55 AM

"More people die from auto crashes, starvation, war or crossing the street every year than they do sledding. So whats the big friggen deal?"

More people die of natural causes than any of those every year.

Th "friggen deal" is that at a rate of deaths per 10,000, snowmobiling in BC is right up there, if not at the lead of number of deaths.

Posted by: gus on April 12 2009 8:38 AM

What is your problem lostfaith? Can't accept that others can post an opinion on here?

I think you need a pill. This ain't called "opinion 250" for nothin'.

Posted by: lostfaith on April 12 2009 11:24 AM

Tired of all the stupid comments regarding sledders Gus. Got something against that?

The same people keep posting the same stupid comments and questions when a sledder dies in the mountains. How many times do people need to ask the same questions over and over and over.
Why don't they do the same when others die for other reasons?

For instance, the poor guy that was stabbed down near the first liter pub who died. Wheres all the comments on that story? A mere 2-3 comments about it is all.

People out in the wilderness enjoying their lives get killed and then all the negative comments start flying.

Somebody living their life on the darker more dangerous side is murdered and nothing gets said.

Peoples priorities are a bit screwed.

Posted by: gus on April 12 2009 12:50 PM

The thing you don't seem to clue in on, lostfaith, is that we know quite a bit by now about the habits of people who go high marking, especially after that video. I knew nothing about that until the video.

The story about someone getting stabbed in the Strathcona area we know very little about, except that a bunch of the same yahoos on here as always had their posts removed because of their so called "opnions".

There are a lot of comments out there, especially in the Alberta and northwest USA blogs and papers about the practice of high marking that is now starting to come out in the open.

This is one from Calgary

headline = Response to near-deadly video illustrates culture of snowmobiling secrecy that disturbs safety advocates

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2009/04/08/9049061-sun.html

I find the article intersting and, if people were more tuned into having rational discussions on here about such things, could go a long way with some great posts of opinion back and forth.

But no.... we seem to have some people who just like to hit at people rather than having discussions.

Obviously there is a shortcoming here in debating ability.

It's sort of like high marking ..... how many people can you attack today and get away with it before the editor pulls the personal attacks?

Posted by: Oldun on April 12 2009 2:56 PM

Lostfaith, since this is called Opinion 250 I shall ask my question once again if you like it or not. IS THERE A REASON WHY THE MAJORITY OF THOSE KILLED IN SLEDDING ACCIDENTS THIS SEASON ARE FROM ALBERTA? If I knew the answer i would not be asking the question. What difference does it make how many times the question has been asked.... it hasn't been answered to my knowledge. There is most likely a lot of truth in Yama's response. Have a real nice day!!

Posted by: Too Funny on April 12 2009 9:35 PM

seems ta be a whole lotta grumpy one's here at this site.

Posted by: gus on April 13 2009 8:20 AM

I think Yama is on the right track.

These are the factors I see at play:

1. "High marking" appears to be a growing subsector of the snowmobiling crowd.

2. the trench, that highway 5 south of Valemount passes through, has easy paved and open highway access and the right kind of mountains with the right angles of open slopes, 35 to 45 degrees, required for the activity.

3. There are more than 1 million Albertans who have access to that area within 6 hours drive. There are no more than 120,000 or so BC residents who have access to that area within the same driving time. Thus, the simple probability, all other thnigs being equal, is that about 8 times as many Albertans are going to get killed than BC residents.

There are other areas that have similar conditions. One of them is the Highway 37 corridor north of Meziadin. Considerably fewer people in that region so the probablitly of someone getting killed there compared to the HWY 5 area is relatively low.

Posted by: Loki on April 13 2009 9:56 AM

Gus has it right. Climbing a steep hill with an excessively powered machine is just more compensating for physical inadequacies. If you really need this "fantastic sport", do you also need the 4x4 with over sized tires and huge engine? It is also an environmental disaster. This is the only time when these slopes are touched by humans, and they should never be more than a distant scene. The litter, fuel spills, and broken sled parts remain well after the snow has melted away.

These are not suicidal tendencies, rather selfish and stupidity tendencies.
My time may come at any moment and I may not choose it, but I certainly don't wish to hasten it.

We are in the midst of a potential energy crisis where the future supply of petroleum is uncertain, and so these yahoo's with more time and money than brains drive those over size fuel guzzling 4x4 for a days drive to get somewhere so they can burn gas for no reason while shredding pristine sites that are so environmentally sensitive that they are banned from hiking the rest of the year.

The only time these sledheads see the back country is from the seat of a gas burning machine. The rest of the time they are just arm chair sport freaks, talk about machismo. ALL these machines should be banned from the back country. If you want to see pristine outdoors, take the family for a hike or snowshoe.

Posted by: thereasonableman on April 13 2009 10:23 AM

Is there a reason why the majority of those killed in sledding accidents this season are from Alberta?

Analytically:

Most likely they are more prone due to their inexperience with steep slopes, high mountains and avalanche conditions.

They do not have exposure to those factors at home. BC'ers are raised in those conditions, have benefit of other's experiences from the time they learn how to ride, and have usually watched others take the hills before attempting it themselves.

Most likely, we have better luck because we have better experience with the conditions.

Posted by: thereasonableman on April 13 2009 10:27 AM

Albertans come here for the expilicit purpose of riding their high powered sleds in the high mountains. Rightly so, BC has some of the most amazing riding available.
They are hitting the mountains, often for their first time, all excited about the experience, with probably no thought of danger. Maybe we should start educating riders with a video available online ?
Before riding in BC, watch this video ? Legislate like with boating safety ?

Posted by: gus on April 13 2009 1:35 PM

The last time I looked at the map, the southern border between Alberta and BC ran along the east west continental divide of Canada which is along the height of the Rocky Mountains. I had not realized that there was a shear cliff on the Alberta side ....

The essential difference between the Alberta side and the BC side is that much of the Alberta side is within National Park boundaries. For some reason or another, that kind of activity is not allwed in the Parks. Can't for the life of me figure out why.

Posted by: gus on April 13 2009 3:12 PM