British Columbia avalanche kills 5 snowmobilers

The family of one of five men who died in a large avalanche in British Columbia has paid tribute to him and his passion for the outdoors.

The BC Coroners Service has concluded its scene investigation of the area of the Renfrew snowmobiling area near McBride where five men died on January 29 as a result of an avalanche. The coroner’s office in British Columbia identified them shortly after a press conference of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the small town of McBride.

Grierson said that Rod Whelpton, a member of the Robson Valley Search and Rescue team, and another group of snowmobilers were in the area at the time, and came across the avalanche.

“I used to do it years and years ago and I’m a lot older now and probably a little wiser”, said Walline, after leading our CBC crew on his snowmobiles up near the top of Mount Lucille, just across the valley from where Friday’s avalanche struck.

The avalanche risk was rated as “considerable” and warning signs were posted.

Mounties said they were first notified after the activations of two separate Global Positioning System beacons, which are carried by backcountry enthusiasts in case of emergency.

“It’s devastating. As soon as you hear about something this tragic, you immediately begin to think about all your friends and family that you know, and the acquaintances you do know who may be out there sledding”, he said.

In March, 2015, two Alberta men died while snowmobiling the Dore River Basin.

“This community is very welcoming for snowmobilers”.

He says four separate groups of snowmobilers, totalling 17 people, were caught in the avalanche path or buried to some degree but they have all been accounted for.

Whelpton told reporters that he went out that day to have fun.

“It was pretty heavy in there”, she said, after listening to rescuers describe pulling bodies and 12 survivors from the snow.

Pascal Haegli, the research chair in avalanche risk management at Simon Fraser University, says that once avalanche victims are buried it is almost impossible for them to dig out of the snow without the proper rescue equipment.

Whelpton said the snowmobilers appeared “very prepared”.

“It definitely hits home…We’ve all got family”.

“You know we have to remember that the community has a population of just under 600 people, so a very significant response being very well done, and I am certainly am thinking about those incredible people that respond at their own risk.”

McBride is about 210 kilometres southeast of Prince George.

“I’m concerned that there were so many people caught in a single avalanche”.

“Fairly significant weather event added rain and snow to the snowpack over the last few days followed by clearing and cooling today”, Klassen said.

“Walline believes 80 to 90 per cent of human-caused avalanches are triggered by ‘high-marking”, where snowmobilers attempt to literally make the highest mark possible on the untouched snow of steep slopes.