Two men killed after third fatal avalanche in B.C.
Posted March 21, 2010 1:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VALEMOUNT (NEWS1130) – Two more people have been killed following yet another avalanche in B.C. It happened Saturday at around 3 p.m., a commercial Heli-Ski operator had a group of ten skiers and a pair of guides out in Wells Gray Provincial Park when the slide hit.
Three skiers were buried although one man managed to escape quickly. Two others were found unconscious with the help of their avalanche beacons, but could not be revived.
The victims are 19 and 35-years-old respectively and are from France. The avalanche was categorized as a class 3 to 3.5, which is strong enough to bury a car or destroy a small building. It has a typical mass of 1,000 tonnes.
On Friday, a massive snowslide near Revelstoke killed 30-year-old Kelly Reitenbach of Calgary. Not far away, two other men from Alberta were killed by an avalanche a week ago Saturday. Mounties say the two avalanches were triggered by snowmobilers who were racing up mountains.
Despite the warnings and seeing how deadly they are, the recent fatalities have not deterred enthusiasts who continue to head into the backcountry.
One Revelstoke Heli Skiing company has chosen to close early because of avalanche conditions. It was just three days before the deadly Boulder Mountain slide that Eagle Pass Heli Sking manager Jordy Shephard made the decision to end the season. “We had clients booked through to the end of the month of March. For several reasons, including avalanche danger, we elected to shut down operations.”
Shephard says the Heli Skiing season usually runs at least another four weeks, and most others in Revelstoke are still open. The Eagle Pass avalanche that killed one snowmobiler happened in an area that borders where Shepherd would usually take skiers and snowboarders
