Incident Summary
- Date
- 2017-04-08
- Location
- Mount Harvey, Lions Bay
- Location Description
- Province
- BC
- Coordinates
- 49.47588 °, -123.20650 °
- Elevation
- 1652 m
- Activity
- Snowshoeing & Hiking
- Involvement
- 5
- Injury
- 0
- Fatality
- 5
- Description
- Five snowshoers hiking on Mount Harvey fell to their death when a cornice collapsed close to the summit. The cornice broke away above the steep north west face, plunging almost vertically for approximately 150 m before triggering a size 3 loose wet avalanche on the slope below. The five victims appear to have been swept down with the snow and were discovered buried in the avalanche deposit in the runout zone. The sixth member of the group had become separated from the main group and did not witness the cornice collapse. He met up with another solo hiker and when they discovered evidence of a freshly separated section of cornice deduced the rest of the group must have fallen down the steep NW face. The weather on the day in question was stormy with the freezing level around 900 m.
Avalanches
| Date/Time | Size | Type | Trigger | Elevation | Aspect | Slab width | Slab Thickness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-04-08 15:43 | U | U | U | 1652 m | nw | - | - |
Weather
| Present Temp | Max Temp | Min Temp | 24hr Trend | Wind Speed | Wind Direction | Sky Condition | Precipitation Type & Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | Steady | S | s | X | S5 |
Weather Comment: 60 cm new snow fell in previous 48 hours with strong winds from the SSE.
Snowpack
| Snowpack | 24hr Snow | Storm Snow | Storm Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | 40 cm | 60 cm | - |
Documents
| Document Date | Title | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-04-09 | View looking up from deposit | Search and Rescue - Horvath photo | view |