CALGARY — A close friend and co-worker of two snowmobilers killed by an avalanche near Revelstoke, B.C., says no one is to blame for what he calls a natural disaster.
Kurtis Reynolds and Shay Snortland died when a wall of snow thundered down a mountain and buried dozens of other snowmobilers gathered for an informal competition.
Mike Harker says he has been to the Big Iron Shootout every year it has been held and to that particular spot a hundred times.
He says he was unaware of any avalanche warnings and there’s no guarantee the dead men would have stayed home even if they’d known.
Harker says Snortland got stuck at the top of the hill and Reynolds was sitting at the bottom enjoying lunch on a bright sunny day when the snow broke away.
He says he lost his two best friends and it’s a miracle that the death toll at the gathering that attracted about 200 people wasn’t much higher.