Sparwood Avalanche monument

GKR · Aug 17, 2009

Avalanche monument * PICS ADDED POST 17 *

Just wanted to pass along a good news story today. I work for SMS Equipment in Edmonton and I am an avid mountain rider and forum member.

You will all recall the Sparwood tragedy this past winter where 8 riders died in an avalanche leaving 3 survivors. Two of the three survivors have a direct connection to our company, one as an employee, and one as a son to an employee. As a company with a branch in the Sparwood area and community this was very close to home for us.

We were very active in a fundraiser for the families of the victims raising a number of thousands from our staff and a total of over $45000.00 for the families in the Snowarama back in March.

The management of our SMS Equipment branch in Elkford has really stepped up now and has funded the creation of a monument in memory of these fallen riders.

This weekend the guys were up building the foundation near the site of the avalanche where the monument will be placed.
I will try and get some pics up of the final product once its in place.

Lost but not forgotten!! Well done guys.

snow_knight · Aug 17, 2009

That is a really cool monument.. great to see something like this going up for those guys..

If anybody or clubs are intersted pm me for doing monuments of these sorts.. my family has been in the business for years.. and i've wanted to do things like this for the lost sledders out there

m8magicandmystery · Aug 17, 2009

a real nice job for a sad occasion...great work..thanx for posting it

NoSecondChances · Aug 17, 2009

A+++ work GKR. Tell your company they have made a huge contribution to the friends and families of those they lost, and that they will be reminding us all how fragile life is, and the price our fellow riders paid.

NSC

GKR · Aug 17, 2009

Yeah thanks NSC. We are a work hard, play hard company and many of our staff and tradesmen are the outdoors types where this is close to home. In particular in a small community like Elkford. We have well over 100 employees down there and many would have known the families involved in addition to the ones connected to the actual tragedy. Real nice to see something like this done, I hope one day I get to see it in person.
Cheers

Vertical-Extreme · Aug 17, 2009

Cheers to you guys awesome work

HPJUNKIE · Aug 17, 2009

Job well done!

Long Gone · Aug 17, 2009

Well done. I think that tragedy struck all of us in the heart. Make sure you share our thoughts with your company who is sponsoring this memorial.

GKR · Aug 18, 2009

Yes good idea, I bet there alot of peeps here who don't even know we did this. I'm sure our Elkford branch is well aware but we have many other locations that contributed and have riders in them.
Cheers

Rob1334 · Aug 18, 2009

Glad my donation went to such a nice memorial. Can't wait to see pics of the final monument.

GKR · Aug 18, 2009

Rob,
The cash donations from everyone were awesome. All the money from the fundraisers actually went directly to the families of the victims, where it was needed most.
The monument was something extra and was funded completely by SMS Equipment.
I will make sure to post some pics when it's completed.

SnowBigDeal · Aug 18, 2009

Horribly Tragedy. Glad you guys are stepping up big time and representing the victims. Can't wait to see more pics!

RMKcowboy · Aug 18, 2009

Very nice tribute to those that lost their lives! Just curious, will it be visible in the wintertime or will it get covered up by the snow?

flatlander_99 · Aug 18, 2009

an absolutly amazing thing to do & a beautiful memorial as well. just a reminder to those who come across the are to pay tribute to the fellow riders lost. we need more of these in our backcountry!
rip boys!
ride safe everyone!

GKR · Aug 18, 2009

I'm guessing based on the snowpack they get there it will be buried in winter but saying that I have not seen the actual site that it will be placed. As I understand it, as near as possible to where the actual avalanche occured. I'll find out more on that and update when I get the pics.

drscotch · Sep 2, 2009

Nice work!

GKR · Sep 2, 2009

Wow - here it is.
Amazing job and effort by everyone involved.
Russ Nilsson and Jeremy Rusnak were the employees of SMS Elkford that help start the project, organized it and assisted in the completion so hats off to both of them for a job well done.