Training saves lives in avalanche
A pair of men from the Golden area can thank their fellow skiers and snowboarders for ensuring they survived an avalanche that left them battered and bruised.
The two men lay injured with cuts and broken bones on a remote mountain slope roughly 100 kilometres northeast of Golden, B.C., after they triggered a mid-afternoon avalanche Dec. 29 while skiing down the backcountry terrain.
They would have to spend the night in frigid temperatures awaiting a helicopter rescue the next morning because there was not enough daylight left to fly in immediately.
They might have died there in the snow. But the men, both from the Golden area, were skiing with five others — three from Calgary — trained in avalanche rescues and equipped with communication devices, sleeping bags, water and first aid supplies.
“All of those tools combined ended up making it so these two guys could make it out alive,” said Jay Ross, a Calgary man who worked with the group of skiers and snowboarders to keep their injured friends stable and warm while they waited for rescue crews.
“For me, there was a lack of emotion the moment this happened,” Ross said. “There was no time to panic. It was, ‘OK, this is what we’re here for; this is why we have the training. It’s time to go and get it done.’”
Ross and the others turned on their beacons to receive signals from the victims, whom they had found partially buried.
They immediately tended to the victims while they sent out an SOS transmission to RCMP, who contacted Golden and District Search and Rescue.
They also used an inReach communication device to tell authorities that all skiers and snowboarders had been accounted for, and to get details about the rescue operation.
After learning about the trapped skiers at about 4 p.m., search and rescue officials evaluated the conditions and terrain before deciding they would first send out crews on a snowmobile before flying in a helicopter at first light the next morning.
It was a long snowmobile ride to the scene, and the crews had to be careful, given the risks of the backcountry.
“We were entering avalanche terrain in the middle of the night, which is always a little bit precarious, not knowing what’s around you and what’s above you,” said Shauna Speers, president of Golden and District Search and Rescue.
The crews found the injured skiers at about midnight, and did their best to stabilize fractured bones and keep the patients warm. Rescuers transported one man to the closest shelter, but others stayed with the second victim, given the extent of his injuries and the difficulty in moving him.
“You have to realize that you’re in the middle of nowhere. They were on scene attending to myself and one of the victims by midnight, which is pretty unheard of,” said Dan Munro, a Calgary man who was on the mountain with the group when the avalanche hit.
The search and rescue team had brought along more first aid supplies, heat pads and dry sleeping bags as they hunkered down and waited for the helicopter.
Both victims survived the night and were rushed to hospital. One man has since been released while the other remains in stable condition.
Backcountry skiing and snowboarding comes with great risk. Shane Schroeder, an Edmonton man, was killed in an avalanche in December while snowboarding out of bounds at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort near Golden. It was on the same terrain that he and others had ridden many times before without incident.
Ross and Munro said they had each been backcountry skiing for about 10 years, but never had to carry out a similar rescue operation. Still, they said they were armed with training and equipment that helped keep the two victims alive.
Too often, they see other skiers and snowboarders in remote terrain without these essential tools, risking their lives.
“One emotion that I have is being very proud of all those who were involved, including the injured, including the rescuers, for keeping a level head,” Munro said.
“When guys have broken legs and things like that, they can freak out pretty quick,” Ross added. “Both victims were really level-headed and they had the safety training and probably more avalanche training than we have, and they did great.”