My prayers go out to all the families & friends involved. Scary as hell my brother-inlaw and some friends have been riding in Fernie since the 26th.
8 missing in avalanche near fernie
- Thread starter Jay
- Start date
I was thinking the same thing about heading west, we usualy go to Fernie this time of year makes me wonder if I will go back again.....
Very well put!!!
does anyone know if they were on snowest yet
T
THUNDERWOLF
New member
I agree with you wholeheartedly! I am very sorry about your loss. No matter how many times people take AVY classes or in possession of the latest tech stuff, it will happen to anyone of us unexpectedly. I just wish that people would stop making repeated comments like taking AVY classes or using common sense. There is a risk everything that we do daily. We are more likely get killed by vehicle accident than avalanche. Playing golf in lightning should be more dangerous than highmarking but no one is making an issue out of it. I have seen many golfers (including me) stubbornly trying to complete their rounds while lightnings were all over. It's a matter of self-determination and decision-making of each individual. We do not have the right to criticize or belittle anyone who made their own decision. It's their own fate like our fate will do us in. Just live each day like as if it's our last day. Think positive!
Peace
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S
STRAYPUSSY
Active member
R.i.p
Crystal... Im out to Revy tomorrow to the end of the week.
I'll have my eyes peeled for your guy, and everyone else.
Keep your head's on a swivel lads, lets end this non-sense.
I'll have my eyes peeled for your guy, and everyone else.
Keep your head's on a swivel lads, lets end this non-sense.
RIP
Mikel Stier.
Gonna miss you alot. Too bad we never got to have our big race at the drags.
Love Crystal.
This freaks me out, My boyfriend is in Revelstoke for a week with all his buddies and he's not exactly all brains when it comes to riding outside of the Pass. Just hope that he comes home safe with all the boys.
Mikel Stier.
Gonna miss you alot. Too bad we never got to have our big race at the drags.
Love Crystal.
This freaks me out, My boyfriend is in Revelstoke for a week with all his buddies and he's not exactly all brains when it comes to riding outside of the Pass. Just hope that he comes home safe with all the boys.
They are heros! they decide to help other guy in danger R I P boys I was reading on Dootalk recently like one guy was cut i avalanche and was partly
buried and was needed help while other group sow all this and was simply eating their lunch and watching like poor guy was strageling they went to help him when he was screming for help.Very sad day.
S
snowyo
Active member
Wow, i'm still trying to wrap my head around this.I just got off the phone with some relations down there and it is sad.Small community with mostly long time family ties around there.Most with VERY young families.not good.
Kudos to those that hepled or tried to help.It's folks like those that will be given a higher seat in the house.It's also good to hear it seems they all had the proper gear.
Growing up 20 mins away in the crowsnest pass years ago i understand the outdoor enthusiastic mentality....it's what ya live for there....not a lot else goin on.
I've heard storys of mining/loggin equipment being washed off the road in that harvey creek area in the 30's/40's taking whole crews with them.
RIP all
Kudos to those that hepled or tried to help.It's folks like those that will be given a higher seat in the house.It's also good to hear it seems they all had the proper gear.
Growing up 20 mins away in the crowsnest pass years ago i understand the outdoor enthusiastic mentality....it's what ya live for there....not a lot else goin on.
I've heard storys of mining/loggin equipment being washed off the road in that harvey creek area in the 30's/40's taking whole crews with them.
RIP all
SPARWOOD AND VANCOUVER — The group of 11 snowmobilers — old friends, two cousins, a father and son — set out on their snowmobiles well before daybreak Sunday from their homes in Sparwood in southeastern B.C. for the 500-kilometre trip to Revelstoke.
The men, most in their 20s and 30s, some married, some with infant children, some so close they referred to each other as "the wife," had been snowmobiling together for years, even conducting search-and-rescue operations for other lost or buried sledders.
But the roads soon became so bad they decided to pull off the highway and head for familiar grounds closer to home in the Harvey Valley. They had worked their way into a pass at the bottom bowl of the valley by 10:30 a.m. when the first snowmobiler into the bowl got stuck.
Two sledders, one of whom was Jeff Adams, headed in to help him when a cornice let go and buried the three of them. One dug himself out and the other eight snowmobilers came to their aid. That's when a second cornice gave way burying all 11 sledders.
After 15 minutes, Mr. Adams and Jeremy Rusnak dug themselves out from debris and called out for survivors. They heard James Drake's voice and started digging. They got one of his arms out — dislocating his shoulder in the process — but before they could pull him all the way out, a third cornice broke.
"The two that had freed themselves ran for cover in a treed area," Mr. Wilks said. "These two brave souls went back, found him [Mr. Drake] and were able to bring him out of the snow after 15 or 20 minutes."
All of their gear — shovels, probes, gloves — was buried under metres of snow. They had no way of digging or doing anything to help the remaining eight who were buried. They decided to walk out.
"We lost all our stuff," Mr. Adams later told his mother, Deb.
"It was at this time these three guys had to make a serious decision that hopefully none of us ever have to: start walking back towards Fernie to get help or try and find those that are still under the snow," Mr. Wilks said.
One sled was still on top of the bowl that they might have reached. But they also spotted another cornice that might break loose. And it did.
"That was the right decision," Mr. Wilks said. Ten minutes after leaving the area, another slab of snow, which was probably the largest, fell off, burying the whole bowl.
"They got out just in time," Mr. Wilks said.
Mr. Adams was in rough shape when Mr. Wilks saw him yesterday. "Physically, he's beaten up but the mental part is killing him. He's going through a process of 'Why wasn't it me?'" Mr. Wilks said.
"They did not give up on their friends," Deb Adams said, insisting media reports be corrected that suggested the three chose to walk away rather than dig for their friends. Yesterday, search teams recovered seven bodies. One is still missing. Mr. Adams lost his two best friends in the slide.
Mr. Rusnak spent yesterday recovering at his rural home. People there and answering his phone declined requests for interviews. He lost his cousin, Kane Rusnak, in the slide.
Mr. Drake was also recovering from the ordeal.
"I'm his brother and he won't even talk to me right now," his brother said when he answered the door.
All over Sparwood, people talked about the accident and their friends in disbelief. Everybody in the community of 3,954 seemed to be connected to the "valley boys."
Friends described the adventurers as "knowledgeable sledheads" who were experienced with search-and-rescue equipment including transceivers, shovels and probes.
"I can't go up there and help with the search because they're friends," said one man as he gassed up his pickup truck, a snowmobile in the back.
He was out sledding Sunday in a different area and declined to identify himself, but said he sledded with at least four of the men.
He chalked up the accident to bad luck, acknowledging the activity does involve risk.
"It's sad. Really sad," he said.
"More people are killed in the area by vehicle accidents compared to the amount of snowmobilers," he said, adding that these incidents give backcountry use a black mark.
"It's an eye-opener for everyone who lives here too. People will respect it a little more," he said.
The area where the avalanches occurred is described as a normally pleasant area to ride with some extreme terrain. Despite the huge recent dump of snow, the area would have been impossible to engage in what's known as high-marking — riding up the side of a mountain and travelling back down. There were too many stumps and boulders in the valley and not enough snow.
What source did you get this from?? Is this from a reliable one?
I was reading earlier that 7 got buried, and 4 helped out.
Now it is almost the other way around.
If you post this, please make sure your sources are inclusive.
I was reading earlier that 7 got buried, and 4 helped out.
Now it is almost the other way around.
If you post this, please make sure your sources are inclusive.
R
Remmy
Well-known member
Horrible News.
Avalanche awareness is key but I agree with what others have stated, no matter how educated we are we are assuming risk every time we venture into the mountains.
Last year the avalanche forecaster for Cordova (community in Alaska) whom was one of the premiere avalanche experts in the State was buried in a massive slide under 15 feet of snow...a fatal mistake. Not a single one of us is guaranteed another day on this planet.
May these men rest in peace.
Avalanche awareness is key but I agree with what others have stated, no matter how educated we are we are assuming risk every time we venture into the mountains.
Last year the avalanche forecaster for Cordova (community in Alaska) whom was one of the premiere avalanche experts in the State was buried in a massive slide under 15 feet of snow...a fatal mistake. Not a single one of us is guaranteed another day on this planet.
May these men rest in peace.
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My heart goes out to all who have been loss in this accident,and to the people of sparwood for thier terrible loss.I have been riding in the mountains for a couple years now and love it there is no feeling like it in the world, as i am sure all those involved did too may they rest in peace. I think the last thing we need is for the Government to get involved too much in this sport unless they want to put more resources into education, traning, and awareness, i think it would be better if the snowmobile company's got involved in the situation and maybe supplied us with some vids and/or or manufatured packs to go with the mountian machines i would gladly pay the extra dollars. I know they make them and being new to ths sport i am learning the dangers more and more all the time, this incident is another reminder to all of us what can happen out there and to get some sort of training it may not always save your life but will at least give a person knowledge in what to look for and what kind of equipment we will need in order to maybe survive in a situation like this. RIP
P
priest lake rmk
Well-known member
Speachless
H2 you got them all right the only one they couldnt find until last night was Danny Bjarnason
RIP boys
and to Jeremey, James and Jeff you boys made the toughest decision of your lives you are heros keep your head up boys
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