An avalanche claimed the life of a man in the southeast of BC on Sunday, RCMP has confirmed.
It was one of the three snow motorcycles that were traveling in the Forster Creek area under the Thunderwater Lake, about 90 kilometers southwest of Banff, when the slide went down, according to an avalanche in Canada Incident report.
“A rider triggered an avalanche in an steep slope, rocky and northeast affected by the wind and was completely buried,” says the report. “A complementary rescue was carried out with the help of other riders in the area.”
Avalanche Canada classified the slide as a 2.5 size, on a five -point scale. A size 2 is large enough to bury, hurt or kill a person.
CPL. James Grandy said in a statement that the RCMP of Columbia Valley received a SOS activation of a satellite communicator on Sunday, indicating that there had been an avalanche and a person was buried.
“The victim was brought by helicopter to the invertment hospital where unfortunately, despite all the measures of salvation of life, they were declared deceased,” said Grandy.
It is the second death related to the avalanche this season in BC last week, an skier died in Golden, BC, after an avalanche of size 2 was activated in the Kaprist mountain.
Earlier this week, Avalanche Canada warned about a higher risk of avalanche in parts of the province, raising the danger level to the fourth highest category, on a scale of five. This occurred in the midst of special climatic statements of Canada’s environmental warning over the wind and heavy rains.
“We have already seen natural avalanches and humans activated this week, and we hope it will continue with warm temperatures and sun during the rest of the week,” said avalanche forecaster Wendy Lewis.
He added that BC is seeing a considerable danger of avalanche, due to several persistent weak layers in the snow layer that are emphasized by new snow and warmer temperatures.
“People can often underestimate a considerable danger of avalanche, but we hope the activity of avalanche occurs,” he said. “It is the danger qualification that often catches most people and causes most accidents and incidents.”
CBC News has communicated with Columbia Valley Search and Rescue to comment.
