Very Sad News: Robson Gmoser dies in avalanche
It has been learned that the person who died in the avalanche on Tuesday afternoon near Sorcerer Lodge, a remote ski cabin near Golden, B.C., was Robson Gmoser. Robson was 45.
According to reports in the Globe & Mail Mr. Gmoser was setting an uptrack for a skiing party the next day when the tragedy occurred. He was skiing with a practicum, a guide-in-training, who was waiting behind as Mr. Gmoser checked out a slope known locally as the Heinous Traverse, a shortcut to Mt. Iconoclast, a peak in the area. The avalanche, a large size 3 slide, was triggered at approximately 5 p.m. as Mr. Gmoser, having finished the uptrack, skied back down the slope.
Mr. Gmoser was wearing an avalanche beacon, but was buried under 1 1/2 metres of avalanche debris. The guide-in-training managed to dig him out in 30 minutes, but Mr. Gmoser could not be revived, despite the eventual additional help of a helicopter rescue squad and two doctors skiing as guests at Sorcerer Lodge, all of whom responded to a radio call from the guide-in-training.
Robson Gmoser was the son of Margaret Gmoser and the late Hans Gmoser, who founded Canadian Mountain Holidays and invented helicopter skiing. Robson owned and operated Battle Abbey, a backcountry skiing lodge in the Selkirk Range north of Golden. He had worked as a guide since 1985, and had been skiing since his infancy. For his 14th birthday, his mother and father let him take a two-week back-country ski trip, alone, in the middle of February, leaving on skis from the back door of their home in Harvie Heights, near Canmore. He leaves his wife Olivia and their young son, Max.
ACMG Executive Director Peter Tucker had this to say:
"It is with incredible sadness that I am informing you of the passing of Robson Gmoser. Robson was buried in an avalanche yesterday [Tuesday March 10] and did not survive.
Robson was a warm hearted, charismatic, and genuine man, a loving husband to his wife Olivia Sofer, and a wonderful father to their three-year-old son Max.
Robson, son of Hans and Margaret Gmoser, was an adventurous spirit, who followed in his parents’ footsteps in his love for the mountains as well as the oceans. Robson was a sea kayak guide for many years, and became a ski guide in the mid 1990’s. He was a gifted and talented skier, who made the worst snow conditions look effortless – as some would say, he was ‘poetry in motion’.
Robson’s remarkable creativity is exemplified in many ways. He co-designed the renovations of Battle Abbey with Roger Laurilla, designed his homes in Golden and Harvie Heights and showcased his wonderful sense of humour in his videos of ski touring at Battle Abbey as well as in his many other adventures.
But most of all, Robson was content. While many of us strive for the next step, Robson was happy with who he was, where he was, and what he was doing. There are no words that can come close to expressing how deeply we will miss him."