The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating the death of a 22-year-old Victoria man who died Tuesday while snowboarding at Mount Washington.
The man was snowboarding in bounds with four friends during a snowstorm Tuesday afternoon when he fell in open, intermediate terrain, Mount Washington Alpine Resort said in a statement. His group told lift operators he had fallen and did not meet them at the bottom of the chairlift as they planned.
While the resort’s ski patrol initiated a search, the friends rode up the chairlift and returned to the area where they had seen the snowboarder fall. They found him unresponsive and he had no obvious signs of trauma. Attempts to revive the man were unsuccessful.
The B.C. Coroners Service confirmed it is investigating to determine how the man died. His identity has not been released.
Comox Valley RCMP said there is nothing to indicate foul play and the man died after “an apparent accident.”
Mount Washington’s general manager, Dean Prentice, said he had been “shaken to the core” by the man’s death, calling it a “complete and utter tragedy.”
“Our team at Mount Washington extends our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of this young man. Our hearts break for them,” he said in a statement. “I would like to thank our first responders and dedicated staff for their efforts in this unfortunate situation.”
Prentice said the death has been tough on all who responded, including ski patrol and resort staff.
“It has been a gutting experience.”
A doctor from Nanaimo who was skiing at the resort and participated in efforts to save the man praised ski patrol for their efforts and said nothing more could have been done for the man, Prentice said.
Two others have died while snowboarding at the resort in recent years.
In January 2018, a man in his 20s died after being found unresponsive in a treed area within the resort’s boundaries. In December 2015, 15-year-old Reid Kyfiuk was found dead after falling into a three-metre tree well — a hidden cavity or loose snow that forms around tree trunks.
A snowboarder who went out of bounds from the ski resort last month was caught up in an avalanche and spent a night outside until search-and-rescue crews found him with frostbite and hypothermia.
