One snowmobiler has been killed and RCMP expect more may be buried after the second deadly avalanche in a week hit the backcountry near Revelstoke B.C. Friday.
As the sun set on Eagle Pass, some 20 km west of Revelstoke, Mounties and search and rescue teams called off the search for survivors with as many as 10 people unaccounted for in the chaotic aftermath, said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.
Another person was injured but quickly released from hospital.
“Right now we have a rough number of about 10 people who were in the immediate area who haven’t been accounted for,” Moskaluk said.
“We’re going back up there in the morning with the anticipation that more are buried.”
The Category 4 slide, ranked by the Canadian Avalanche Centre as the second largest possible, hit the wilderness area before 5 p.m. Calgary time about 1 km east of Eagle Pass Peak, slamming into at least two separate groups of snowmobilers who were in the area.
Moskaluk said because more than one group was in the backcountry, identifying who is missing has been difficult and RCMP officers from nearby Sicamous have been enlisted to canvas parking areas bordering on the wilderness area to see if some can be accounted for.
He said two snowmobilers up on the hillside likely caused the slide that rushed down the mountain onto those gathered below.
Search and rescue teams along with search dogs and probes were used in the waning daylight to no avail and Moskaluk said the search will be resumed at first light Saturday morning.
The Canadian Avalanche Centre listed the danger of a slide in the area as considerable and a local wilderness guide, Larry Nielson, owner of Eagle Pass Outpost, said he’s not surprised to learn of a major slide.
“This year has been the worst for avalanches I’ve seen in the last 20 years — this year they’ve been constant,” he said.
“The snow we’ve got up there, the locals call it ‘hero snow’ — it means the snow is so good and firm on top that snowmobilers can go straight up anything but it’s like ball bearings underneath.”
Last month 42-year-old Edward Sage of Hussar, Alberta was with a group of eight snowmobilers on Eagle Mountain and was killed in an avalanche.
Nielson said the backcountry in Eagle Pass has around 25 km of trails that are very difficult but he’s seeing more people than ever who are not properly trained coming to the area.
“A lot of people probably shouldn’t be going out there and about 90 percent of them are Albertans,” he said.
“It’s one of the biggest areas around here and it’s the most challenging.”
Last weekend a slide at an unplanned snowmobile rally called the Big Iron Shoot-Out near Revelstoke killed two Alberta men, Shay Snortland of Lacombe and Kurtis Reynolds of Strathmore.
