A Sylvan Lake man has died after being trapped in an avalanche while sledding near Revelstoke, B.C. this past weekend.
Christopher Shane McCoy, aged 36, has been identified as the victim.
Revelstoke RCMP and local search and rescue were called to a report of an avalanche on Boulder Mountain, about 8 kms from Revelstoke, at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 15th.
RCMP had advised the mountain was extremely busy with numerous snowmobilers, at the time of the incident.
A group of four snowmobilers from Alberta were near the Boulder Mountain snowmobile cabin when an avalanche was triggered. Two of the men were caught in the avalanche and the other members of the party were able to find and dig out the two who had been hit.
McCoy was found to be unconscious but later died of his injuries. The second male survived with non-life threatening injuries. All snowmobilers were equipped with appropriate safety gear and beacons, police have said.
The B.C. Coroner Service was called to the scene and has since taken jurisdiction of the incident.
In press release, the Coroner Service said McCoy was an experienced snowmobiler.
The B.C. Coroners Service and RCMP continue to investigate this death.
The family of McCoy has been notified of his death.
The B.C. Coroners Service notes that the Canadian Avalanche Centre continues to list the avalanche risk as ‘considerable’ to ‘high’ in many parts of the province and urges all backcountry users to take extreme care, including checking the Canadian Avalanche Centre webpage for current conditions in B.C.