A father of four young children was identified as the Sylvan Lake area man killed in an avalanche on Friday.
The B.C. Coroners Service said Steven Burke Hall, 33, of Birchcliff, on the eastern shore of Sylvan Lake, was just a week shy of his 34th birthday when he died on a mountain about 30 km southeast of Sparwood early Friday afternoon.
The coroners office said a group of six snowmobilers stopped for lunch while Hall and two others continued to ride uphill before the slide struck.
The avalanche came within hours of the Canadian Avalanche Centre issuing a warning that weak layers of snow presented a danger of large avalanches in much of southern British Columbia.
Hall was the owner of Haven Built Homes and Precision Placement Sand and Gravel.
Red Deer’s Bryon Motin played on the same basketball team with Hall for about eight years in the Central Alberta Senior Men’s Basketball Association.
Motin said Hall was snowmobiling with two friends from Sylvan Lake and four friends from Southern Alberta. Motin said Hall loved the outdoors and loved to play.
Hall was married and had three young daughters and one son.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com