He survived an avalanche 20 years ago. Here's what he wants skiers to know today
Dozen people killed in avalanches in B.C. this winter, highest number in six years
Twenty years ago Ken Wylie was an apprentice guide leading skiers up a slope in Revelstoke, B.C., when he heard the telltale "whumpf" of an avalanche — the percussive sound of a mass of snow shifting underfoot.
"This was the deepest whumpf that you could possibly imagine," Wylie, who now lives in Mill Bay on Vancouver Island and runs a risk management training company.
"The whole slope settled with all of us on it, and then it fractured and started moving," he told The Current's Matt Galloway.
Wylie was lucky, he was able to surf on a slab of snow long enough to get his skis off and prepare for the snow to swallow him up.
"But my clients who were all exposed were hit by … a wall of snow, and they didn't have a chance to respond," he said.
Thirteen people were swept away by the avalanche in January 2003, seven of whom died. Wylie was buried for 45 minutes before being airlifted to hospital.
"It's kind of luck of the draw, and I was fortunate enough to have an air pocket when all things came to a standstill," he said. "That air pocket is why I survived."
So far this winter, a dozen people have died in avalanches in B.C.'s backcountry, the fourth highest number of deaths since the 2015-2016 season.
In a statement Thursday, a spokesperson for Avalanche Canada said this year's season has been "plagued by a deeply buried weak layer across much of Western Canada, making it a very difficult snowpack to safely manage."
The non-profit organization issues daily bulletins to help people mitigate the risks in the backcountry. It has said this year's conditions are similar to those in 2003, the year Wylie was caught up in that avalanche.
A deep layer like 'sugar in the raw'
For perfect skiing conditions, it needs to be -5 C, with 20 cm of snow falling every day, Wylie said. That gives you a deep, homogenous snowpack.
"[But] when you have really dry periods, when you have rain, when you have a real mixed bag, then you end up with layers in the snowpack," he said.
This year there is a weak layer of crystallized snow — like "sugar in the raw" — which is buried deep, he said.
"The thing about a deep instability is that it's really hard to detect and it's really hard to predict how or when it will be triggered," he said.
"We call them low-probability, high-consequence events, and that's exactly what [2003] was."
In the weeks before the 2003 avalanche, Wylie said guides were already nervous about conditions.
"That morning I was putting my ski boots on with dread … I did know that we were pushing it too much," he said.
But he added that "knowing that there's a hazardous condition is different than actually taking steps to mitigate the particular hazard."
'Save it for another day'
Wylie now uses what he learned from the avalanche to teach others, as the owner-operator at his risk management training company Archetypal.
He said skiers should choose lower-angle terrain if they're more comfortable, and not be influenced by messaging that "deep and steep" is best.
He added that it's important to trust your intuition, to speak up when necessary and to listen when others voice their concerns.
"Accidents happen when groups are fragmented," he said.
That can be avoided if people work together, he said, as well as working with the environment they intend to ski in.
"I think that the mountains are trying to teach us patience and they're trying to teach us … to play our cards really well, to save it for another day," he said.
With files from CBC British Columbia. Audio produced by Howard Goldenthal.
