A back country enthusiast is lucky to be alive after being buried in 1.5 metres of snow following an avalanche north of Pemberton.
Mounties said a large avalanche that happened near the Wendy Thompson Hut in the back country north of Pemberton off of the Duffy Lake Highway was reported at about 3:40 p.m. on Feb. 7. According to the caller, there were at least three separate ski groups touring in the area when the avalanche hit.
Witnesses told police that a group of 10 people were ski and snowboard touring and had skied the slope one at a time. The last skier was heading down when a large avalanche was triggered about 100 metres above him. He was alerted to the danger by members of the group blowing whistles and he was able to ski out of the path of the avalanche.
However, the avalanche continued down the slope and hit several people in the group, which resulted in partially burying three people and completely burying one person. The group along with a party of three men and another party of five women were able to quickly rescue the buried woman.
Witnesses said when they found her she was unconscious and unresponsive but recovered once she was removed from the snow.
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Pemberton Search and Rescue arrived quickly by helicopter and were able to determine there were no other injuries or everyone was accounted for in the groups.
While the RCMP said the groups were all well-equipped, prepared and had varying levels of experience for back country travel, incidents like these still highlight the need to be vigilant in these areas as avalanche and weather conditions can change quickly and without warning.
This is the third avalanche involving back country enthusiasts to happen in the province since the beginning of January.
An avalanche northeast of Prince George claimed the life of a snowmobiler, 41-year-old Angelo Carpino, on Jan. 24 and on Jan. 29 five men from Alberta were killed in a human-triggered avalanche near McBride.
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