Kokanee Park avalanche kills 1 - Jan 16/11

[bennymac]

+++Vibes to all involved+++

"An avalanche at a provincial park in B.C.'s Kootenay region has left an Alberta man dead.

A group of 15 skiers from B.C. and Alberta was caught in the avalanche, which occurred in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park at about 12:30 p.m. PT Sunday, RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said.

"We can confirm that there was a physician amongst the group. After the slide occurred, it was within minutes that the recovery and rescue was made of the one individual — what we would refer to as a self-rescue or companion rescue," he said.

"They were able to dig out the individual who was buried, they had him out within about five minutes … Emergency first aid and CPR was performed to the unresponsive male. However, unfortunately, they were unable to revive the man."

Heavy snow combined with poor visibility delayed a helicopter recovery operation. Crews were expected to return to the site Monday to recover the victim's body and fly the group out of the area.

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/c...entid=27275427

[bennymac]

Shit, add 2 more to the weekend's toll. Backcountry with no beacons? Not sure if that's been confirmed but if so WTF. Tragic regardless.



"Meanwhile in Alberta, three skiers who watched as an avalanche careened down a slope ahead of them tried frantically to rescue two men who were buried on the backcountry terrain in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, near the Alberta-B.C. border.

When the skiers couldn’t locate the men, they alerted authorities to the emergency unfolding Saturday.

The three activated a SPOT personal tracking device to guide a rescue team to the scene, said Mike Koppang, a public-safety specialist with Kananaskis Country.

The bodies of the two men, both in their mid-40s, who had been further up the slop were recovered Sunday.

The avalanche was close to 300 metres wide and as deep as two metres. It happened Saturday afternoon in the Burstall Pass area of the park."

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Ava...980/story.html