Three men have been killed in an avalanche on the east side of Kootenay Lake in southeast B.C.
RCMP say the avalanche happened in an alpine area on Monday, sweeping away a group of heli-skiers.
Police say a transport helicopter was nearing the group at a staging area when the pilot saw the avalanche coming and sounded the alarm.
“One group of skiers was able to run out of harm’s way, while the other group of four was swept away into the tree line,” RCMP say in a news release.
Police say three of the men pulled from the snow were dead, including a 53-year-old guide from nearby Kaslo, a 44-year-old man from Whistler and a 45-year-old man from Idaho.
The fourth man, a 40-year-old from Nelson, was critically injured.
Avalanche Canada has rated the danger in the area around Kootenay Lake as high, from the alpine to below the treeline.
“Rising temperatures are creating very dangerous avalanche conditions and terrible riding quality. (There’s) no reason to go near avalanche terrain,” the forecaster says on it’s update from Monday.
Kaslo RCMP says it is helping the BC Corners Service in its investigation.
