WHISTLER — An avalanche in Brandywine Bowl Saturday afternoon has claimed the life of a 45-year-old man, marking the second avalanche fatality in Whistler’s backcountry in as many days. Whistler RCMP was notified of the slide shortly after 2 p.m. on Saturday, police said in a statement. Multiple people were reportedly caught in the avalanche, while one person was reported missing at the time of the call.
Those in the area immediately began searching for the missing snowboarder, as Whistler RCMP and Whistler Search and Rescue made their way to the Callaghan Valley area, about 15 kilometres south of Whistler Village.
The 45-year-old Sea to Sky local was located about 45 minutes later, but had died, police said.
Police believe a group of three were swept up in an initial avalanche. The trio was attempting to leave the area when a second avalanche occurred, which they were unable to avoid.
Saturday’s death comes one day after a skier was killed and another injured after being caught in a size 3 slide in the Poop Chutes area off Blackcomb Glacier. A third skier suffered serious injuries in a second smaller avalanche that occurred earlier Friday afternoon in the Phalanx area close to the Spearhead Glacier. The individual was flown via air ambulance to a Lower Mainland hospital.
“[There have been] four serious Search and Rescue calls in the last [three] days, [two] of them fatal, and a multitude of serious injuries,” said Sea to Sky RCMP Sgt. Sascha Banks in the release.
“The calls speak for themselves … the backcountry in the Sea to Sky is not stable at the moment, it’s time to wait and postpone your touring trip here for another time. This is hard on all of us: Search teams, bystanders, police, and most importantly the loved ones of those who have died and been injured. Their stories have valuable lessons … which we all need to learn from.”
Whistler RCMP said its members will continue to work with the B.C. Coroners Service to determine the order of events which led up to Saturday’s incident in Brandywine Bowl, as well as other fatalities that have occurred in the area this winter.
