Snowboarders trigger Sunshine Village avalanche

Two snowboarders who entered a closed area of Sunshine Village triggered an avalanche Monday, resort officials say.

The two 25-year-old men, who weren’t injured in the slide, are now facing questions from Sunshine staff and the RCMP over why they were in the off-limits extreme ski zone, said resort spokesman Doug Firby.

The avalanche was triggered shortly after 2 p.m. Monday in an area known as the Wild West, Firby said.

That area hasn’t been opened this year due to avalanche danger, he added.

"They went under two distinctly marked ropes and went into this closed area," said Firby.

"Those two individuals are being interviewed to get some more details about exactly what they were doing and exactly where they were when they triggered that avalanche."

One of the snowboarders is from Calgary and the other is from Ontario, according to Firby.

Gondola staff observed the slide and reported it to resort staff.

Parks Canada crews were called out to help, said visitor safety specialist Aaron Beardmore. As they were en route in a helicopter, they received reports that the snowboarders hadn’t been buried in the size 1.5 slide and were able to walk away from the scene, he said.

The men were above the wall of snow when it crashed down, said Beardmore.

"It was a close call," he said, describing the area as "unforgiving terrain," with a series of cliffs and steep crevices.

The resort’s ski out area was closed Monday due to the incident.

The slide was contained to the Wild West zone.

Penalties for violating the resort’s closures range from removal from the mountain for the day, or being banned for the year, Firby said.

The popular ski resort has been embroiled in labour troubles following the highly publicized firings of four skill hill staff in December. A new manager of mountain operations takes the helm on Feb. 25.

Firby said that the mountain was fully staffed Monday.

"Our ski patrollers today responded exactly in the manner we hoped they would," he said.

Calgary Herald