Heliskiing avalanche fatality north of Revelstoke

A 52-year-old Austrian man died in a heliskiing avalanche incident near Revelstoke on Monday afternoon.

In a statement, Revelstoke RCMP said they were notified at around 3 p.m. on Mar. 6 that an injured man was being transported to Queen Victoria Hospital by helicopter suffering what was believed to be a cardiac arrest after he was buried in an avalanche.

At the time, he was heliskiing in the Goldstream area, about 100 kilometres north of Revelstoke.

In an interview with the Mountaineer, Revelstoke RCMP Staff-Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky said two police officers were on the scene investigating and that details are still limited.

The deceased man was with a group of five heliskiers accompanied by a guide at the time.

Heliskiing tour operator Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) has confirmed the skiers were guests with them. CMH spokesperson Tanya Otis confirmed details of the incident, which happened at about 2:50 p.m.

A group of five skiers and a guide were skiing down the mountain in intervals. The guide and another male had proceeded, and when the third male began skiing, the avalanche was triggered and he was buried. Three people were caught in the avalanche. According to a statement by CMH, two of them were able to extract themselves from the snow uninjured.

Guides extracted the third man and performed CPR on him and transported him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

BC Coroners Service coroner and spokesperson Chico Newell said he didn’t have any further information about the incident, but maybe would later in the day Tuesday.

The man was first transported to Revelstoke Airport, and then by ground ambulance to Queen Victoria Hospital.

The deceased 52-year-old man is a resident of Austria. His name is being withheld until all family are advised of his death.

Revelstoke RCMP did not release the name of the heliskiing operator involved, saying it is police policy not to name businesses or business locations.

The RCMP have ruled out foul play and are assisting the BC Coroner Service with their investigation into the cause of death.

This story is being updated as more information becomes available.