A snowmobiler died Friday in an avalanche near Golden, B.C., the fourth to be killed in a snow slide in B.C.'s back country this week.
The southern Alberta man was among a group of snowmobilers sledding in the Vermont Creek area, also known as Silver Mines, when the avalanche hit, said Ian Foss, manager for Golden and District Search and Rescue.
"We know that there was a group of nine travelling, with one person trapped in an avalanche," said Foss. "He was dug out by his companions."
Cpl. Betty Watson of Golden's RCMP detachment said police got a call around 2 p.m. local time from the International Rescue Centre in Texas, which monitors GPS-equipped emergency locator beacons.
A local heli-skiing operator also called in at roughly the same time to report the slide.
A search-and-rescue crew brought out the 50-year-old victim by helicopter.
Watson said his companions performed CPR after digging him out from under more than two metres of snow.
Rescuers continued the effort en route but the man was pronounced dead at Golden's hospital.
It's the third fatal avalanche in British Columbia in four days.
Two Edmonton-area men were killed Tuesday when they and a companion were hit by a slide while snowmobiling near McBride, in the northeastern part of the province.
Another snowmobiler died near Kimberley, B.C., on Wednesday.
Two skiers were killed in an avalanche March 7 near Golden's Kicking Horse Mountain resort.
"Avalanches are still a concern in this area and will be for the remainder of the season," Watson said.
Friday's death brings to 24 the number of people killed in avalanches in Western Canada this winter, all but one in British Columbia and most of them snowmobilers.
