Two men are dead after the Kicking Horse ski resort in Golden, B.C., was hit by an avalanche, Saturday.
RCMP Sgt. Marko Shehovac said four people were skiing within the boundaries of an area called the Feuz Bowl, considered an avalanche-closed area, when the slide occurred about 2:30 p.m.
"Two people were able to get out, two males are deceased," said Shehovac.
The two men who were able to escape were not related to the other men.
"They just happened to be in the same area," said the officer, adding RCMP were notified after witnesses reported the avalanche.
"Some people saw it happen and were able to report it to the ski hill," he said.
The resort issued a statement saying that at approximately 2:25 pm Kicking Horse Mountain Resort personnel assessed the situation and determined that the avalanche had taken place in a Permanent Avalanche Closure, within the Controlled Recreation Area of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
The first skier was recovered just before 3:00 p.m. The second was found minutes later.
Skier Kevin Hall told CTV that the incident "sent shivers'' up the spines of people who were out on the mountain at the time of the avalanche. He said it was snowing at the time of the slide.
The avalanche comes a little more than a week after Quebecer Gilles Blackburn, 51, was rescued from the back country where he spent nine days lost in the wilderness after he and his wife Marie-Josee Fortin, 44, skied out of bounds from the resort.
Mounties have admitted errors were made in not launching a search sooner after multiple sightings of Blackburn's SOS signs were ignored.
Fortin died before the couple could be rescued.
With files from The Canadian Press
