Eleventh Avalanche Death

By 250 News

Invermere, B.C. - A  41 year old man from Crossfield Alberta has become the eleventh victim of an avalanche in B.C. this season.

 At 7:33 pm last evening, Columbia Valley RCMP responded to a report of an avalanche  in the Bugaboo Provincial Park in an area known as the Silver Basin.  This area is about 93km NW of Invermere , at the back of Brisco.

The avalanche was triggered  when the 41  year old was high marking on the slope.  The  avalanche traveled approx 400 yards and was  75 yards in width. 

The male and three other companions were familiar with the area.  The deceased and one other companion were avalanche trained according to statements made by the people with the deceased. All parties were wearing transmitter beacons at the time.  

The Bugaboo area is the tenure of Canadian Mountain Holiday.  Although the snowmobilers were not clients of Canadian Mountain Holiday Heli Ski, the staff were aware snowmobilers were in the area and prior to calling it a day and returning to base, the CMH helicopter and guide flew over the area to check on the area and noticed people on the ground were indicating by hand that they had an emergency.  

The pilot and guide on board landed and provided immediate assistance.  A second CMH helicopter was summonsed and attended with a physician who was at their base camp.  The second helicopter arrived with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).  The guide on board the first helicopter advised police that the avalanche was a class 2 1/2.

The deceased was located under approximately 3-4 feet of snow and it is estimated he was under the snow for up to 20 minutes.  The recovered male displayed no signs of life and CPR was initiated. The male was flown to Invermere hospital and at 1945 hours was pronounced deceased.  The three companions were assisted by CMH were able to get back to their vehicles and eventually attended the Detachment to assist in the investigation.

Names will not be released until the family  has had enough time to contact other family members.

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