Avalanche
On Saturday, a snowmobiler was killed by an avalanche in a popular backcountry area south of Valemount, BC.
Two snowmobilers were riding at the base of a slope in Bowl 3 in the Oasis snowmobile area when the slide occurred around 11:30 am.
One person managed to ride away from the avalanche, while the other was fully buried. The survivor was able to locate the buried victim but they were found to be unresponsive.
“Two snowmobilers were riding at the base of a slope in a feature known as Bowl 3 in the Oasis snowmobile area south of Valemount. The avalanche was remote-triggered close to the edge of the bowl at a point where the riders were approximately 20 m from the toe of the slope. One person managed to ride away from the avalanche, while the other was fully buried. The survivor was able to locate the buried victim but they were found to be unresponsive. The avalanche ran on a layer of facets near the base of the snowpack. The crown depth was reported to be between 80 and 120 cm.”
According to Avalanche CA, there had been reports of “numerous” avalanches in the area, both remote- and human-triggered.
“This is a dangerous snowpack and it seems to be particularly volatile in this area at the moment.”
– Avalanche CA
Forecasters have predicted a particularly dangerous season in British Columbia, with the snowpack the weakest for decades.
This is the third avalanche-related death of the season in Canada and the ninth in North America. On January 9th, two off-duty police officers were caught in an avalanche near Kaslo. One died that day, while the other died Saturday.
