Search to resume Tuesday to find 8th man caught in B.C. avalanches

Search efforts will resume Tuesday morning to find an eighth missing snowmobiler after crews recovered seven bodies on Monday following two avalanches near Fernie, B.C., the RCMP said.

A search team of 50 people, including volunteers, and two RCMP avalanche dogs have been combing the area where eight snowmobilers were trapped in the avalanches Sunday morning.

'Some of these gentlemen were related.… They all went to school together for the most part. This is a very close-knit community.' — Sparwood Mayor David Wilks

"The search was called off about 3:30 this afternoon due to a high risk of another avalanche up at the scene," RCMP spokesman Cpl. Chris Faulkner told a press conference at 5 p.m. PT Monday.

"A seventh body was recovered at about the time the search was terminated."

About three to four hundred people attended a candlelight vigil held in Sparwood Monday night in memory of the seven men, who were all in their mid- to late 20s and raised in the community about 30 kilometres northeast of Fernie.

Their bodies were taken from the avalanche area to Fernie for identification by family members, the RCMP said.

The RCMP have not released any names but some media outlets identified the eight men as Danny Bjarnason, Kurt Kabel, Warren Rothel, Kane Rusnak, Leonard Stier, Michael Stier, Thomas Talarico and Blaine Wilson.

The Canadian Avalanche Centre said the avalanche risk is still high in the area.

"Fernie did get a huge amount of unexpected snow and of course that tipped the balance in that area," said John Kelly, the centre's operations manager.

"It's a condition that is very prevalent in southern British Columbia but true for almost all of western Canada right at the moment," he said. 

Search efforts were delayed by the need to trigger avalanches in the area to reduce the chance of more slides coming down on rescuers.

"It's tough even manoeuvring in that type of snow. The terrain is not stable to begin with. Walking is hard," Faulkner said earlier Monday.

The coroner, search and rescue crews and police will jointly decide when to call off the search "depending on weather and snow conditions," he said.

Eleven male snowmobilers were trapped in the avalanches but three escaped alive. According to Pierre Pelletier, publisher of the Fernie Free Press, the avalanches occurred "about 20 kilometres east of Fernie, in the Harvey Creek area." The area is about 300 kilometres southwest of Calgary.

Search crews first located three bodies at about 1 p.m., and then three more bodies a little later, police said. The seventh body was found shortly before Monday's search was called off at 3:30 p.m.

The recovered bodies lay further beneath a hard-packed surface. The deepest was found under 3.5 metres of snow, the others about a metre beneath the surface, said Chris Thomas, president of Fernie Search and Rescue.

They were spread out over about 120 metres, and three were located almost immediately because they were wearing special avalanche transceivers that send out an electronic signal, Thomas said.

"The other four were found by probe strikes — their transceivers were not on or they were, likely, in receive mode as opposed to transmit mode because they were looking for additional people," Thomas said. 

Sparwood mourns losses

Earlier Monday, the mayor of Sparwood said he was hoping for "a miracle" in the rescue of the snowmobilers.

"It's going to be devastating for this community; we're a small community of 4,000 people," Mayor David Wilks said on Monday morning.

Wilks said the situation will be especially difficult for family and friends of the men because all 11 of them were good friends.

"Some of these gentlemen were related.… They all went to school together for the most part. This is a very close-knit community."

Wilks said the men were experienced in the backcountry.

The Canadian Avalanche Centre, based in Revelstoke, said there were reports of avalanches in the area all day, and it warned people to stay out of the area for the next several days.

A deadly combination

"There was significant new snowfall [Saturday] night and then a warming period into [Sunday]," said James Floyer, an avalanche forecaster with the centre.

"That combination basically overloaded the snow pack and resulted in a significant number of slides, and those slides were running into the very weak pre-existing snow pack."

Les Auston, general manager of the B.C. Snowmobile Federation, said majestic snow vistas and vast open spaces attract people to the great outdoors.

"The mountains attract everybody, and snowmobilers like to go up and enjoy the viewscapes," he said. "But there is danger involved."

There are about 100 snowmobile clubs in the province, and between 80,000 and 100,000 snowmobilers, Auston estimated.