Teen dies snowboarding on Mount Washington

A teenager has died while snowboarding on Mount Washington.

The BC Coroners Service has confirmed the 15-year-old did not show up at the base of the mountain Tuesday to meet up with his party.

“He was snowboarding with another family member,” said Matt Brown, with the BC Coroners Service. “The two separated at one point, and his sister finished her skiing and he did not show up.”

Friends and family have identified the victim as Reid Kyfiuk, who was a Grade 10 student at Claremont Secondary school in Cordova Bay.

Search and Rescue crews were called out around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, shortly after Kyfiuk was reported missing.

Rescue volunteers on snowmobiles located the teen at about 11 p.m., but he was deceased. The cause of death is not known at this time, but the Coroners Service says it appears the teen fell into a hole. There are no trees in the area where the teen was found.

A Search and Rescue member described the hole as “a natural creek bed, which formed into a small ravine.”

The Coroners Service says he was not out-of-bounds, but he was found on a run that was not groomed.

“Absolutely in-bounds,” said Don Sharpe, with the Mount Washington Alpine Resort. “He was skiing with his family. I guess one person went one direction, one person went another direction, they got separated and unfortunately never found each other again.”

In a statement, Mount Washington said:

“This is absolutely tragic. Our sincerest condolences go out to the family.”