A close-knit southern Ontario community mourned Saturday as word spread that two members of the town lost their lives in a skiing accident in British Columbia.

"I think the reality of it has begun to sink in and now we're just trying to cope with it, trying to understand," said a stunned Ken Watson, manager of the Grimsby Minor Hockey Association, as he described how the deaths of Steve Babb, 47, and Sam Vogl, 17, have rocked the small town.

Babb, his son Colin, 16, and the teen's friend, Vogl took to the slopes Thursday afternoon at Revelstoke Mountain Resort in B.C.'s interior when they decided to go off the groomed path.

RCMP said the three found themselves on a steep, hard-packed, icy chute when they took off their skis and tried to walk out of the area.

While ascending, the three lost their footing and slid about 100 metres before going over a cliff.

"Our family will never be the same," Babb's cousin Andrea said in a statement on Saturday night. "We are in a state of shock. What I can tell you though is that Steven lit up the room when he was in it."

"He was kind, fun, a free spirit and an amazing dad. He loved adventure and whenever he was around you couldn't help but smile."

Babb, a pilot for Air Canada, was a minor hockey coach and both his son and Vogl played on Grimsby teams. All three were experienced skiers and athletes and had been looking forward to the mid-semester skiing vacation with other family members.

Facebook tributes poured out for Babb and Vogl, as thousands of members wrote their condolences on the page and others posted photos of a smiling Vogl dressed up in costume.

"He was the kind of friend that never let you down, who was always there for you, and whenever you weren't doing so good he would make you smile," Santoy Mckenly wrote in an email about his friend, Vogl.

Mckenly said Vogl was one of the first to make him feel welcome when he started at the school.

"Sam Vogl was the guy who instantly made friends with me, from then on we became best friends. When I was told about the accident it absolutely broke my heart," Mckenly said. "Just thinking of it makes me cry."

Alannah Morton-Reeve, who also went to school with Vogl, said the teen had a great sense of humour.

"There was one thing that everyone new about him and that is that he was always a happy guy and had the biggest smile. He would light up the faces of everyone around him and he was always so positive," Morton-Reeve wrote in an email, as she remembered how Vogl lifted school spirits by dressing up as Santa Claus one day.

"He just gave everyone a good laugh. He was really one of the funniest guys you could meet."

RCMP said the corner has ordered an autopsy and it's unclear when the bodies of Vogl and Babb will be brought home.

With files from The Canadian Press