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In Canada, death comes faster

By all accounts, Andy Gebhardt and Norbert Mueller were honest, easy-going men who died doing what they loved to do.
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By all accounts, Andy Gebhardt and Norbert Mueller were honest, easy-going men who died doing what they loved to do.

Quiet, hardworking farmers in the summer, coal miners in the winter, the Central Alberta men shared a passion for roaring through Canada’s backcountry on snowmobiles with family and friends.

Their peers considered them to be experienced, skilled riders who kept an eye out for each other and used the proper safety equipment, including personal transceiver devices.

Tragically, their experience, skill and equipment came up short in February on a slope near Golden, B.C.

Gebhardt, his son Jarrett and Mueller died when they were buried by an avalanche triggered by high-marking, the practice of riding up a steep slope to leave the highest mark.

Norbert’s son, Travis, the lone survivor, was taken to hospital suffering from shock and minor injuries. Golden RCMP credited his survival to another group of snowmobilers who witnessed the slide and tried to dig the men out as quickly as possible.

Rescuers lost the race against the clock to save the Gebhardts and Mueller, despite the personal transceivers that helped them to quickly pinpoint the location of the buried men.

A study published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests there may have been a lot less time on that clock than Canada’s avalanche safety guidelines let on.

Researcher Pascal Haegeli of Simon Fraser University concluded the overall rate of surviving a full burial in Canadian and Swiss avalanches was about the same — 47 per cent; however, Canadians died much sooner.

Swiss statistics cited by the B.C.-based Canadian Avalanche Centre suggest that victims have a 91 per cent chance of surviving an avalanche if they’re found in the first 18 minutes.

Based on his comparison of avalanche statistics of Canada and Switzerland between 1980 and 2005, Haegeli found people buried in Swiss avalanches had survival rates of 94 per cent if recovered within 10 minutes.

The survival rate fell to 71 per cent if they were recovered between 11 and 20 minutes.

In Canada, the survival rate within the first 10 minutes was slightly lower at 90 per cent. It plummeted to just 36 per cent between 11 and 20 minutes.

Haegeli chalked up the differences to three factors. Canada’s backcountry has more trees, which can inflict traumatic injuries on victims during an avalanche; and denser snow, which increases the chance of suffocating as it hardens to the consistency of concrete around buried victims. It’s also more remote, adding to the time it takes to transport victims to a medical facility.

Haegeli concludes that 10 minutes would be a more appropriate guideline for rescuers. If speed is of the essence, then avalanche safety education programs should emphasize the importance of efficient companion rescue and resuscitation techniques. Ensuring victims are evacuated quickly to receive medical treatment should also be a top priority, he said.

The Canadian Avalanche Centre is reviewing Haegeli’s research to determine whether it can improve its own safety programs. They already emphasize how critical it is to uncover slide victims as quickly as possible.

Skiers, hikers and snowmobilers who enjoy Canada’s backcountry should also re-evaluate their own safety practices in the light of Haegeli’s findings. An avalanche victim’s window of survival closes much more rapidly after the first 10 minutes than previously thought. Rescuers will need to respond that much more quickly and effectively if they hope to avert tragedy.

The Gebhardts and Muellers didn’t go snowmobiling near Golden that Saturday in February looking to get hurt, but, as friends said in the wake of the tragedy, things happen, just like in any sport.

Haegeli’s research is a necessary reminder that when things happen, the clock is ticking.

Cameron Kennedy is an Advocate editor.