Rescuers retrieve body of Alberta man from Kokanee
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
A search and rescue team flown by helicopter into the avalanche laden alpine area of Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park has retrieved the body of an Alberta man killed in an avalanche yesterday.
RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk confirmed the man’s body has been taken out of the backcountry after he died Sunday afternoon as a result of the injuries he sustained from being caught in an avalanche.
The other 14 members of the group — staying at the popular heli-ski lodge Kokanee Glacier Cabin — have not decided if they will remain in the backcountry for the rest of the week as planned, or fly out Tuesday with the rest of the Nelson Search and Rescue crew.
The recovery operation Monday was solely focused on the removal of the deceased involved in the avalanche, said Cpl. Moskaluk.
“For the remainder of the group, it is unclear at this time … what their intentions are and if they are going to remain at the facility to resume their week, or if they will be making proper arrangements with their air carrier to get them out of there when they see fit,” he said. “But they are in no danger and they are all well at the cabin.”
Although retrieval of the man’s body — his name is still being withheld, pending notification of his family — by helicopter was impossible Sunday due to heavy snow and poor visibility, after setting off nearby avalanches the area was safe enough to proceed Monday around 2 p.m. without incident, said Cpl. Moskaluk.
Using helicopters from Nelson (High Terrain) and Castlegar (Damm Helicopters), blasting charges were dropped from one chopper early Monday to stabilize the slope while the other ferried a group of rescuers to the cabin to check on the other members of the group.
Avalanche technicians from the Ministry of Transportation conducted the blasting in the park, as part of the provincial emergency program.
Members of Nelson Search and Rescue then skied about one-and-a-half kilometres to the site and attached the body to a long-line dropped from a helicopter, Cpl. Moskaluk said.
The man had been pulled from the slide on Sunday afternoon by his companions within five minutes of being covered in snow. A doctor within the group was unable to revive the man.
However, the group left the body in the snow and fled to the safety of the cabin as they suspected another slide was imminent, Cpl. Moskaluk said.
Heading into the weekend the Canadian Avalanche Centre had warned the risk of avalanches above and at the tree line in the West Kootenay backcountry was high due to a thick 60-centimetre layer of storm snow deposited on weak under layers.
But it was not clear what triggered the avalanche that killed the man, said Cpl. Moskaluk.
After the remainder of the search and rescue members are removed Tuesday, the only thing left will be the coroner’s report.
“At this point in time, determining if it has been human triggered or not has not been established,” said Cpl. Mosklauk. “That will be reviewed by the (rescue) teams and by the BC Coroner’s Service on the information they glean from those that were up there at the time of the slide.”
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