More Avalanche News....

[PaulB]

This guy's luck obviously ran out....

 

From Canada.com:

 

CROWSNEST PASS, Alta. -- Three weeks after out-running a massive Fernie avalanche, a snowmobiler misjudged where the mountain ended and plunged more than 400 metres to his death.

 

Barry Strandquist died after his snowmobile broke off a cornice, and triggered a snowslide near the Crowsnest Pass.

 

Snowmobilers in the group of seven on the Good Friday outing say Strandquist, a 42-year-old father of two, simply misjudged where the mountain ended and the outcropping of snow started.

 

Just three weeks ago, Strandquist survived a fatal avalanche that killed three of his friends in Fernie, B.C.

 

On March 26, Strandquist was sledding in the Fairy Creek Meadows, near Fernie, when an avalanche slammed into his group, killing three people, including Darren Drake of Crowsnest Pass.

 

Stranquist managed to survive the accident with only minor injuries by outrunning the avalanche on his snowmobile.

 

On Friday, all members of Strandquist's group were equipped with avalanche transceivers. They split up before making a final ascent to a ridge with a breathtaking view of a valley in the Andy Good Peak hiking area, near Crowsnest Pass.

 

As many of the riders reached the peak, Strandquist approached from the opposite side, likely intending to rejoin the group at the top.

 

No one saw the fall, but Dale Linderman, who was part of the group and one of Strandquist's best friends, said they knew right away what had happened.

 

"They could see where his tracks went and we doubled back to where he fell," said Linderman, who had stayed behind to fix his machine but remained in constant radio contact. "I guess he thought it was still the mountain but it was an overhang (of snow) and it just broke loose and fell."

 

Buried under about half a metre of snow -- the sledding group disputes reports that Strandquist triggered an avalanche. They say the conditions were safe before the outing.

 

"Ninety per cent of the snow that fell was from the cornice," said Linderman. "We were 10 times more careful than we usually are because of what happened three weeks ago. We stayed out of every area that was bad."

 

However, RCMP say two separate avalanches were triggered by the group. One was set off by Strandquist after a cornice broke off underneath his sled. The other was triggered by a sledder in the group who went up the slope to investigate after Strandquist disappeared, said Const. Kim Stone of the Crowsnest Pass RCMP.

 

Friday's accident marks the 28th avalanche-related death this year, matching a 1965 record high for the Canadian Rockies.