Ok, I’m not really doing a poll because that’s a gross thing to guess on, but watch the following video which was shot April 4 in Clemina Creek near Valemount, BC: (Thanks to @Tawcan on Twitter for bringing this to my attention).

To date, there have been 19 deaths by shootings around Vancouver since late January, and 23 deaths by avalanche in BC this winter season (for people outside of BC, both are unusually high numbers). As you can see from the video, it was very nearly 24 deaths by avalanche. Most of those deaths have been snowmobilers. While I’m sure its safe to say most people in the backcountry do their due-diligence and homework before heading out, have proper training, equipment and so on, I am somewhat skeptical that wasn’t the case here. This is just plain recklessness and stupidity.

A look back at the avalanche bulletin posted for that day shows avalanche warnings of considerable for that area in the alpine (they were at about 2000m and a roughly 50 degree slope) moving to high by the 6th. The travel advisory also warned “Southerly facing slopes are where the trouble’s gonna be brewing”.

The person who recorded the video has posted an avi incident report to CAC, which reads “3 of us were standing ontop of Goatridge Bowl in Clemina Creek. We observed the first person take a run at the hill. I told my son this was a bad idea. When the second guy headed up I started to video. I got it all.”

The current avalanche bulletin reads:

Check out YouTube for video footage of a snowmobile triggered avalanche that happened in Clemina Creek near Valemount on Sunday. This avalanche was certainly large enough to bury or kill a person. Fortunately everyone escaped unharmed. There are many things to learn from watching this incident. This person was climbing a large, steep, shallow, sun-exposed slope. He or she triggered the avalanche well above the previous tracks as the slope started to roll over (convexity). Triggering large slab avalanches is possible and making good terrain choices is crucial.

There are plenty of comments on the Youtube page from sledders saying things like, “hey you gotta live life to the max instead of watching tv, give the guy props for riding it out, etc, etc” and I’m all for living your life to your comfort level, whether its shredding a hillclimb like that or playing bingo on a Sunday afternoon, but really? Is that living life to the max or just being plain reckless with your life and others’ (those below you and potential search and rescue teams)? There’s a time to do that, and this year with the current snowpack is not it. I know it sucks to wait for another season / month/ week/ whatever, but you have to have the knowledge to know when to go for it and when to quit. I encourage everyone who is complacent with their winter backcounty skills to watch A Dozen More Turns, take an(other) avalanche skills training course, and ‘have the balls’ (to quote a fair amount of other Youtube sledding commenters) to know when the conditions aren’t right for stunts like this.

Related Posts:
• Edumacated Males Most Likely Victim Of Avalanches
• Desastrous Winter Season Puts Snowmobilers On Hot Seat
• Sunday Links

Tags: Avalanche,Clemina Creek,Valemount
Categories: Safety, Snowmobiling
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