Three helicopter Moors were killed on Monday after a sweeping an avalanche in southeast British Columbia.
The RCMP said the avalanche occurred near Kaslo village on the east side of Kootenay Lake at about 1 p.m. PT.
Two groups of skiers have just finished the ski bowl and are waiting on the stage below the tree line in the Clute Creek watershed. A transport helicopter was approaching the group when the pilot observed the avalanche and made a siren. RCMP said in a press release.
The RCMP said a group of skiers were able to get out of the situation, but another group of four swept the tree line.
According to Mounted Police, three of the skiers were found dead – a 44-year-old Whistler man, a 45-year-old Idaho man and their 53-year-old guide from Caslow.
Police said the fourth person was a 40-year-old man from Nelson and was seriously injured. The British Columbia Coroner Service is now under investigation.
High avalanche risk
On Monday, the Canadian avalanche rated the dangers in the area around Kootenay Lake as high, from the mountains to below the Treeline.
“Rise temperatures are creating very dangerous avalanche conditions and horrible riding quality. ((No) no reason to approach the avalanche terrain,” the forecaster said in an update on Monday.
CBC News has contacted the Canadian Avalanche for more information.
“It’s so scary”
Kaslo Search and Rescue (SAR) said the avalanche occurred in the Purcell Mountain range, one of the mountains around the village.
Kaslo SAR manager Mark Jennings-Bates, who is coordinating skiers, said the death toll is close to homes in local communities.
“It’s horrible. It’s a big deal for the locals,” said Jennings-Bates, who knew one of the victims.
“This is someone we know. This is the guide to being affected by it. Yes, it’s hard.”
In 2023, two Nelson Police Department officers were killed after being arrested in a remote area near Caslow.
The Canadian Avalanche said at the time that some professionals compared the snow that year to 2003, one of the worst years of deaths in the avalanche.
