FILE PHOTO
Image Credit: Avalanche Canada
March 04, 2024 - 2:18 PM
A snow biker was killed in an avalanche yesterda near Revelstoke.
Revelstoke RCMP were called to a backcountry avalanche in the Sale Mountain area near Revelstoke at around 1 p.m. Sunday, March 3, , according to an RCMP media release.
A 58-year-old Alberta man was snow biking with a group and he was trapped in the avalanche.
Avalanche Canada says those in the group and others nearby quickly pulled the man from the snow, but even as they were performing CPR, a second avalanche came down and burned some snowmobiles.
Revelstoke Search and Rescue arrived on the scene and transported the man to Queen Victoria Hospital in Revelstoke, but despite life saving efforts he was pronounced dead.
“We give our sincere condolences to the man’s family and friends. We would like to thank all those, including Search and Rescue, for assisting. The BC Coroners Service has now assumed conduct of this investigation,” Revelstoke RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Dodds said in the release.
Avalanche Canada says both slides were caused by snow sitting on weak layers formed in early February, which prompted the forecaster to extend its warning of danger through to Thursday.
The agency is urging backcountry users to make conservative terrain choices for vast swaths of B.C.'s southwestern and northwestern mountains and in the Rocky Mountain regions extending into Alberta.
Avalanche Canada says there were a number of avalanches in the B.C. Interior over the weekend triggered either naturally or by accident, including the fatal incident near Revelstoke.
"Although the new snow is appealing, making conservative terrain choices will be an important strategy for all backcountry users over the next few days," the forecaster says in its updated statement.
The warning area covers the coastal mountains from Whistler to Hope and Princeton, the North Coast area from Kitimat and Terrace to the region east of the Alaska Panhandle, and mountain ranges, including the Rockies, Chetwynd in the north and the Okanagan in the west to the U.S. border and into parts of Alberta.
Up-to-date avalanche information is available at avalanche.ca.
— With file from The Canadian Press
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