Two avalanche deaths in less than a week - time to be cautious

There was a second avalanche fatality this week, this one near Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR), last week a German tourist died while skiing with RK Heli Skiing out of Invermere.

The Province web site reports:

The victim of Friday's avalanche was a 24-year-old German employee of Revelstoke Mountain Resort. The man was skiing out of bounds near Greely Lake when the avalanche occurred, sweeping up three people.

Two skiers were able to free themselves, but the victim was dragged over steep and rocky terrain and died on the hill.

Rescue crews weren't able to enter the area until Saturday to retrieve the man's body.

The CAC is urging skiers and riders that "If you don't have avalanche training and experience and skills, it's probably a time to avoid avalanche terrain," 

"If you do have the training and skills and experience to recognize avalanche terrain . . . it's a time to be quite conservative."

Rescue crews closer to Vancouver have also been busy recently, with North Shore Search and Rescue being called out two consecutive days last week to save skiers stranded on Cypress Bowl.

On Thursday, two skiers were rescued by search teams and Cypress ski patrol from an out-of-bounds area. On Friday, a female skier was caught in a gully and rescued via snowmobile.

On Wednesday, a 19-year-old back-country skier died after striking a rock on Phalanx Mountain near Whistler-Blackcomb Resort.