SMITHERS, B.C. — One skier is dead and another remains missing after an avalanche swept down a remote mountain near Smithers, B.C.
Search and rescue teams are now scouring the Tom George Mountain, 48 kilometres southwest of Smithers, for a man who hasn’t been seen since the snowslide hit Saturday afternoon.
Four highly experienced skiers, who were part of a self-guided group operating from Burnie Glacier Chalet, were heli-sking on challenging terrain when the avalanche buried three of them.
RCMP say the unburied skier dug out a 64-year-old man who suffered minor injuries.
The pair then dug out a 52-year-old woman from Regina, Sask., who was found dead.
A man from Canmore, Alta., remains missing and is believed to have been buried by the snow.
Next of kin notifications have been made but police aren’t releasing any names yet.
Bad weather and failing light prevented a rescue team from reaching the slide site last night, but a search team with an avalanche dog is now on the mountain looking for the missing man.
“They were trying very hard to get search and rescue and helicopter teams into the area, but because of severely deteriorating weather conditions and failing light, they were not able to get back up to the mountain,” said Keith Davis, crisis communications consultant for the chalet.
“They have this morning sent out search and rescue teams and they are at this point in time on the mountain trying to effect a recovery operation.”
The Bulkley Valley Search and Rescue calls the current snow conditions in the area “extremely unusual” due to the ground freezing prior to snowfall.
An investigation probing the cause of the slide will take place, said Davis.
Earlier this month three men from Alberta were killed by an avalanche while snowmobiling near Golden, B.C.