UPDATE: Snowmobiler killed in B.C. avalanche identified

A 34-year-old B.C. man has died after being caught in an avalanche in the Monashee Mountain Range Saturday afternoon, Vernon RCMP has confirmed.

AJ Cleary was snowmobiling with a group of friends in the backcountry near Keefer Lake Resort when the slide came down at around 3 p.m.

The Coldstream man was a nurse at Vernon Jubilee Hospital and was said to be an avid outdoor enthusiast.

The resort’s co-owner, Bob Horkoff, said he learned of the incident when a snowmobiler arrived saying his friend had been buried in an avalanche.

A helicopter took Horkoff and Cleary’s friend to the scene where three other sledders who were with him were already digging.

“As it turned out, the two other fellas had been buried as well, but had managed to deploy safety airbags they wear in their backpack,” Horkoff said.

However, Cleary was buried much deeper in the snow and out of range of the three-metre probes they were using.

When they located him, he had been under the snow for more than an hour, but had a faint pulse, Horkoff said.

He was flown to a hospital in Kelowna in critical condition where he succumbed to his injuries Saturday night, RCMP said.

According to RCMP, the group had the right equipment and training, but time wasn’t on Cleary’s side.

“The way an avalanche is… you only have a short period. My understanding is it took some time to rescue him, unfortunately,” said Sgt. Gord Molendyk.

Horkoff said he had met the group of snowmobilers before during their many trips to the area.

He said some of them worked in the medical field and were family men with good heads on their shoulders.

NOTE: An online AJ Cleary Memorial Fund has been set up for donations as well as an account at TD bank. All proceeds will go to Cleary’s widow.

With files from Global Okanagan