Search and rescue teams recovered the body of a snowmobiler Wednesday afternoon, almost 24 hours after the experienced sledder was swept off a mountainside trail by an avalanche near the Coquihalla Highway in southern B.C.
Police say 43-year-old Michael Shawn Buckles of Maple Ridge was on an excursion with his father and extended family members around Coquihalla Lakes when the slide came down between the group around noon Tuesday, in a remote area about 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
While one person in the group headed down the mountain to get into cell phone range to call RCMP for help, the 10 others started frantically searching for Buckles.
Using GPS tracking tools, they found Buckles' partially buried sled down a nearby slope. They were able to dig him out but he had spent a full 15 minutes under the dense snow by the time he was brought to the surface. Efforts to perform CPR on the unconscious man were unsuccessful.
In Pictures: Deadly avalanche
Search and rescue teams from Hope and Chilliwack set up a command centre at the old Coquihalla toll booth, near the trailhead, but were unable to recover Buckles' body immediately because of unstable weather conditions. A flyover assessment by an avalanche technician deemed that snow conditions were too dangerous for teams to proceed up the steep slope until Wednesday morning.
Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said all group members were properly equipped with rescue recovery gear, including GPS locator beacons.
"Our records are showing they're an avid group that is very experienced," he told CTV News in a Skype interview, adding that large accumulations of snow in the Southern Interior have prompted warnings in the past few days.
The Canadian Avalanche Centre lists the avalanche risk in the alpine and treeline areas north of Hope as considerable, meaning conditions are dangerous -- natural avalanches are possible and human-triggered avalanches are likely.
RCMP victim assistance workers are providing support to the victim's family. His name is being withheld to allow his family time to contact other relatives.
A deadly winter
This is the third snowmobiler to be killed in the British Columbia wilderness in recent days.
A 44-year-old man from the Kootenays town of Elko died of massive head injuries Monday afternoon after running into a wooden jump used by mountain bikers in the summer months.
The force of the crash was so severe his helmet cracked. He was out with two friends at the time.
The day before, a 44-year-old man was killed in a crash on an island in the middle of Eena Lake, northwest of Prince George.
Finally, 58-year-old Ken Gadicke was rescued by his friends after he plunged 30 metres down an abandoned open mine shaft in the Kootenays yesterday.
Miraculously, he only suffered a broken wrist and ankle and some bruising.
Nineteen snowmobilers were killed in 11 separate avalanches in B.C. last winter. More than 50 have died in accidents in the past decade.
