3 men killed in B.C. avalanche after being swept away

Three men were killed in an avalanche on the east side of Kootenay Lake on Monday.

In a release, Kaslo RCMP said that around 1 p.m., two groups of skiers had just finished skiing the bowl and were waiting in a staging area below the tree line of the Clute Creek watershed.

The pilot of a transport helicopter was nearing the group when they saw an avalanche start to happen and sounded the siren.

One group of skiers ran out of the way, however, the other group of four was swept away into the tree line.

Three of the men were found dead — a 44-year-old man from Whistler, a 45-year-old man from Idaho and the 53-year-old guide from Kaslo.

The fourth man, a 40-year-old from Nelson, was found alive but suffered critical injuries, Kaslo RCMP said.

Last week, Avalanche Canada issued a special avalanche warning for the Central Rockies through to Monday.

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It issued the warning late Thursday, which covered Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, and Jasper National Parks, and Kananaskis Country.

The agency warned that the dangerous conditions could also be present in areas adjacent to those areas.

“Recent storm snow overlies a weak snowpack structure and has produced numerous very large avalanches over the last two weeks. Avalanches triggered on this layer have propagated widely, even through forested areas, and may involve the entire depth of the snowpack,” the warning stated.

More to come.