Historical Incidents

Incident Summary

Date

2014-02-15

Location

Revelstoke, Boulder Mountain

Location Description

Shady Lane

Province

BC

Coordinates

50.99880 °, -118.32790 °

Elevation

1650 m

Activity

Snowmobiling

Involvement

2

Injury

0

Fatality

1

Description

A group of four snowmobilers were riding in an area known as Shady Lane. Two members of the group had become stuck riding in deep snow. A third was turning around with the intention of providing assistance, when he also became stuck. The fourth member assisted the third by pulling on the ski of the snowmobile. The stuck snowmobile moved forward under heavy throttle and with the ski pill assistance by about 6 to 10 ft. Right at this point, the third and fourth group members were both struck and fully buried by an avalanche from the slope above. The third member, who was still on his snowmobile, braced himself against the handlebars and managed to stay in an upright position. His head was uncovered relatively quickly by the two companions who were not buried. He claimed to have a small air pocket between his visor and his goggles. The fourth was more deeply buried face down in the snow. Once the head of the third member had been uncovered and it had been established he was still alive (he was dug out slightly later on by a member of another party) the rescuers started to search for the fourth member. By the time the fourth member was uncovered he was unresponsive. CPR was administered for 20-30 mins without success.