Tag: avalanche

Three Men Killed in Southeast BC Avalanche Were From Germany: News Agency

Three victims of a deadly avalanche in southeastern British Columbia have been identified as German citizens. The German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur says the mayor of the municipality of Eging, east of Munich, has confirmed the three men were from Germany and two were residents of his small Bavarian town. Mayor Walter Bauer told the news…


Police Confirm Three Skiers Killed in Southeast British Columbia Avalanche

The number of people killed in British Columbia avalanches this season has grown to 12 after three foreign nationals were swept away by a slide near Invermere on Wednesday. RCMP say the three were among 10 heli-skiers caught by the slide near the Panorama Mountain Resort, about 150 kilometres southwest of Banff, Alta. Cpl. James…


Italian Court Acquits Most Over 29 Avalanche Deaths in Hotel

ROME—An Italian court on Thursday acquitted most of the defendants on trial over the deaths of 29 guests and staff when an avalanche buried an Apennine mountain hotel six years ago, Italian media, including state TV at the courthouse, reported. Tons of snow raced down a forested slope and smashed into Hotel Rigopiano in the…


Avalanche in Washington’s Cascade Mountains Leaves 3 Dead, 1 Injured

Three people were killed and one person suffered injuries on Feb. 19 after an avalanche struck Washington state’s Cascade Mountains while they were attempting to reach a peak, officials have said. According to a preliminary report from the Northwest Avalanche Center, a group of six climbers were ascending the Northeast Couloir of Colchuck Peak, an 8,705-foot (2,653 meters)…


Volunteer’s Death Spurs Warnings That BC’s Avalanche Conditions Are ‘Unforgiving’

VANCOUVER—The avalanche deaths of two skiers in British Columbia’s central Interior this month have prompted an emotional plea about this season’s dangerous conditions from the head of a volunteer search and rescue team. Rick White, the chief of the Central Cariboo Search and Rescue team in Williams Lake, announced Thursday that one of the people…


Tajik Avalanche Death Toll Rises to 20

DUSHANBE—A series of avalanches has killed 10 more people in eastern Tajikistan, the Central Asian nation’s government said on Thursday, bringing the death toll over the past two days to 20 and forcing hundreds of families from their homes. Most of the avalanches hit the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, which borders China and Afghanistan, and where…


Two Dead, One Injured After Avalanche Hits Group of Snowboarders and a Skier in BC

Two people have died and one was hurt in an avalanche in the Purcell Mountains in southeastern British Columbia. Avalanche Canada says a group of five snowboarders and one skier were caught in the slide Thursday in an area known as Terminator 2.5 outside of a ski area boundary near the town of Golden. It…


Kashmir Avalanche Kills 2 Polish Skiers; 21 People Rescued

SRINAGAR, India—Two Polish skiers died in an avalanche at a Himalayan ski resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday and 21 people were rescued, police said. A total of 21 foreigners and their two Kashmiri guides were caught in a massive avalanche and buried under the snow as they were skiing high in the mountains near…


US Professional Skier Named as 1 Victim of Japan Avalanche

TOKYO—One of two foreign men swept up in an avalanche in Japan while back-country skiing in the central prefecture of Nagano and found without vital signs on Monday was U.S. professional skier Kyle Smaine, an outdoor magazine said. The men were among five foreigners engulfed in Sunday’s avalanche, which took place at about 2:30 p.m….


Resist Urge to ‘Tickle’ the Snowpack as Slide Risk Increases, Avalanche Survivor Says

Twenty years after he survived being buried in a deadly avalanche in British Columbia’s backcountry, Ken Wylie is urging people to be cautious and aware while dealing with a similarly unstable snowpack this year. “Just accept this is a challenging season and make plans around that,” he said from his Mill Bay home on Vancouver…