(UPDATE: 3:30 p.m.) - RCMP have confirmed that the body of the missing 24-year-old snowmobiler has been located and recovered following an avalanche in southeastern B.C.
(Original Story: noon) - One person is dead and another is missing after an avalanche in southeastern B.C.
Three men where sledding on Mount Brewer, part of the Purcell Mountains near Invermere, when they triggered a series of avalanches.
A pair of the men were swept away by the slide, said to be between 200 and 400 metres wide.
One of the unnamed victims managed to activate his airbag, but was buried under more than two metres of snow and couldn’t be revived.
Recovery efforts continue for the second victim, but it’s believed he may have been swept into a nearby lake.
Rescuers say a transceiver signal has been located on the lake where debris is floating on the water.
The avalanche tore away the weak and touchy snowpack and continued for more than a kilometre down the mountainside before hitting the small lake.
A report from Avalanche Canada says the snowpack is touchy because of two grainy layers, one right at the base and the other about 80 to 120 centimetres below the surface.
"Numerous very large avalanches have been reported daily," the report warns, adding "this is the type of weak snowpack that could stick around for the remainder of the winter season."
It estimates the likelihood of human triggered slides where the fatal avalanche occurred could increase due to a warming trend to start the week.
With files from the Canadian Press.
