Avalanches abound with warm weather

Thirteen people have been killed in avalanches in Canada since early December. All but one of the deaths were snowmobilers, raising questions about the awareness of some snowmobilers about avalanche safety. All the deaths have been in B.C.

'Krazy Canadian' snowmobiler Dan Davidoff killed in B.C. avalanche

March 15– His last post to Facebook was "Norm. Look I can fly, Lol." and he was famous for doing just that with his high-powered machines.

But sometime on Monday while out in the mountains alone, extreme snowmobiler Dan Davidoff, 45, was buried in an avalanche near his home in Castlegar and did not survive, the B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed. Davidoff  was one of three snowmobilers who died on Monday.  

On Tuesday, officials confirmed two Alberta snowmobilers died Monday in an avalanche near an unnamed peak about 30 kilometres southwest of Blue River. Five other snowmobilers in the group survived the incident near Wells Grey Provincial Park and were able to dig the men out, but efforts to revive them failed. 

Both men killed in Blue River, B.C., avalanche from Sherwood Park

At 5:45 p.m. Monday, March 14, Clearwater RCMP received a call from a group of snowmobilers that an avalanche had buried two men from their group 30 kilometres southwest of Blue River.

Five of the seven snowmobilers escaped the avalanche.

Avalanche takes life of Celista man

An avalanche has taken the life of a yet another snowmobiler – the second in one week. Chase RCMP have confirmed that a 38-year-old male sledder from Celista died as a result of an avalanche in the Crowfoot Mountain recreational area on Sunday March 13.

Snowmobiler who died in Sicamous-area avalanche identified

SICAMOUS - The B.C. Coroners Service has identified the man who died in an avalanche near Sicamous last week (early Mar.). When Kevin James Oystryk, 34, of Sicamous failed to return from a planned day of snowmobiling in the Owl's head recreation area near Morton Lake he was reported missing. The 34-year-old overdue snowmobiler was found dead at an avalanche slide in the Morton Lake area of the Owl’s head Recreation area after being reported missing by his family around 2:20 a.m. today, March 8, Sicamous RCMP confirmed this afternoon. He was last seen Sunday afternoon by a fellow snowmobiler.

2 snowmobilers confirmed dead in B.C. avalanche

2 other men overdue near Radium Hot Springs have been located safely

CBC.ca

Two snowmobilers have been killed in an avalanche in B.C., bringing the total number of snowmobilers

killed in avalanches in the province this winter to 12 ...

Sicamous man's body pulled from avalanche slide

Globalnews.ca

SICAMOUS — A snowmobiler that was reported missing earlyTuesday morning has been found dead, according to Sicamous RCMP. Police say the ...

UPDATE: Body of missing Sicamous snowmobiler recovered from avalanche slide -InfoTel News Ltd

Overdue snowmobiler found dead near Sicamous - CFJC Today Kamloops, British Columbia

Avalanche near McBride kills 5 snowmobilers

'Very large, significant avalanche event' reported in North Rockies

RCMP say they were notified of two separate GPS beacon activations in the Renshaw area east of McBride around 1:30 p.m. PT, at which point they activated the Robson Valley Search and Rescue

Powerful machines used as toys

Team.

There were at least three separate groups of snowmobilers caught in the slide, say RCMP. Six to eight people lost their snowmobiles and had to be shuttled off the mountain.

Sadly, they were prepared, BUT...

The airbags designed to "float" someone along the surface of a moving avalanche but were ineffective because the victims were in a gully at the bottom of a slope - an area where the debris flow of the avalanche is too constricted. A total of 17 snowmobilers were in the Mount Renshaw Alpine Recreation Site on Jan. 29 when the avalanche hit. 

Most avalanche incidents involved fast, powerful machines, which trigger the event. 

Snowmobiler dies in avalanche

Vancouver Sun January, 2016

Snowmobiler dies in avalanche near Prince George ... RCMP in Prince George say a group of five snowmobilers was riding in the remote Torpy ... this weekend, though its advisory didn't apply to the region where the death occurred. 

10 Die in Western USA Avalanches in 10 Days

ABC News 

Jan. 25 Ten people have died in avalanches across the West in the last 10 days, making this month the deadliest January for slides in nearly 20 years. 

Eleven people have died in slides throughout the whole month, including four over the weekend, for a total of 14 so far this snow season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which tracks slides across the country.