Trophy Mountain Avalanche Incident

Activity

Skiing

Total in the group?

6

People fully buried?

0

People partly buried with impaired breathing?

0

People partly buried with normal breathing?

1

People not injured (caught but not buried)?

0

People injured (caught but not buried)?

0

People involved?

1

Terrain shape at trigger point

Planar

Snow depth at trigger point

Average

Terrain traps

• Slope transition or bench

Our group of six was traversing across a relatively flat area about 20 meters from the base of a wind loaded slope following a line of trees. One of the group proceeded to move ahead a little bit to our next rally point. As he moved onto the bench out of the trees, he remotely triggered the first slide. As it was coming down, he had nearly moved out of the way when a second, deeper slab released. The second avalanche caught up with him before he was clear and he was swept away.

Multiple members of the group witnessed this happening and noted his point last seen. After waiting a few moments for the avalanche to end, the group ensured they were safe, switched to search, and then had a couple of members start towards the buried member. Within two minutes, his head and one arm were spotted and we moved to his location. He had been swept about 15 meters from him PLS. He was fine with no impaired breathing and no injuries and we had him freed within a few minutes. He still had his poles and one ski and we found the second after a few minutes of searching.