The accident occurred on a waterfall ice climb just
south of the Fortress ski area. The climb lies below a large alpine bowl. An
avalanche from the bowl above swept over the climb early in the afternoon of
Sunday, November 5th. The leading climber was partially protected by a rock
outcrop which deflected the debris around and over him--a close call. The
lower climber was buried in a gully feature. The party did not have avalanche
transcievers, probes, or shovels. The surviving climber followed the rope to the
vicinity of his partner and dug for approximately 45 minutes with his helmet
before going for help.
The slide occurred on an east aspect. The area
above the climb was lee to westerly winds, which had been transporting snow at
upper elevations early in the storm when it was colder and the snow was dryer.
Poor weather and bad visibility have hampered efforts to determine exactly what
happened, but a fracture line was seen in the alpine bowl above the climbers. It
is suspected that a smaller avalanche from near the ridgecrest at about 2600m
(perhaps a sluff) triggered a slab in the bowl, which gained mass as it
descended and caught the climbers in the terrain trap below.
The victim was found by Kananaskis Country rescue
personnel. Preliminary reports indicate the victim was deeply buried (perhaps as
much as 300cm below the surface) in a terrain trap.
News reports indicate the victim was alive when
recovered about 2 hours after the avalanche and later died in hospital.
It should be noted that the Kananaskis Country
started issuing avalanche bulletins on November 2 and the bulletins prior
to the incident identified the existence of isolated slabs above treeline
and specifically warned of the hazard presented by these slabs on ice climbs.
You can get the Kananaskis Country avalanche
bulletin at www.avalanche.ca by going to
the Canadian Avalanche Centre site, then Bulletins > Current
Bulletins
Here in Revelstoke, the heavy rainfall warning was
lifted earlier today and precipitation slowed by late afternoon. 32.5mm recorded
at the airport yesterday. Felt like at least 20mm today, maybe more. Warming
trend continues, +9 forecast for tomorrow morning, then cooling with
showery precipitation forecast for the next couple of days. Depending on how
much it cools, things might freeze up--at higher elevations anyway--by
Thursday.