Accident | Outdoor Vancouver

A Recap Of A Disastrous Holiday Season On Mountains

Karl Woll | January 5, 2009 11:22 pm

No doubt you’ve seen and heard about at least a few of the local accidents that have happened recently, mostly involving avalanches. I thought I would compile a list of articles about the incidents, and some other related articles that have come out in follow up to the tragic events, which discus causes and prevention among other things such as why humans take risks. My heart goes out to all of the friends and families of those who were not lucky enough to escape with their lives in these accidents and I hope they take solace in the fact they died doing what they loved. These events and articles should create safety awareness about respecting ropes, boundaries, avalanche warnings, and the like, and remind you to be prepared for the worst even while inside park boundaries. Also take note that good percentage of the people who got lost or caught in avalanches recently are experienced outdoors men/ women.

Whistler: Things started off Dec 16, with one tower of the Excalibur Gondola partially collapsing, injuring 12 people. Then, on Dec 22, a 17 year old died while snowboarding in an roped-off run after hitting a boulder, despite wearing a helmet. On Christmas Eve, a 37 year old male suffered the same bad luck, this time while skiing on an open run. If all that wasn’t enough, Whistler/ Blackcomb had 3 avalanches over a two day period Dec 31, and Jan 1, claiming 2 more lives. Both were in areas roped off due to avalanche risk.

Seymour Mountain: On Dec 15, a boy scout was air lifted off the mountain after injuring his knee while snowshoeing. On Dec 25, North Shore Rescue (in their usual greatness) managed to find 3 lost skiers while looking for 2 (that’s an 150% success rate!). You can read the blog post from their website for the full story and the CTV article. Next, in a truly amazing story, a lost snowboarder spent 3 nights on the mountain before being rescued. With no one aware that the man was snowboarding that day, the rescue mission started 2 nights after his car was discovered to be abandoned in the Seymour parking lot.

Cypress: Two snowshoers are lucky to be alive after one fell 50 meters off a slope on a nighttime outing, and the other became stuck trying to rescue him in mid-December.

Lynn Valley: A 16 year old girl fell 4 stories down an embankment in Lynn Creek and suffered a serious head injury on Dec 30. She went to the hospital in critical condition but I was unable to find out how she is currently doing.

Fernie: This obviously wasn’t local, but tragically 8 snowmobilers lost their lives in an avalanche while 3 were able to dig themselves free. There is a Globe and Mail article that discusses how modern technology of snowmobiles allows avid riders to access tougher and more isolated terrain than ever before, elevating risks of accidents.

Grouse Mountain: After all this, on Jan 1, four people ignored ski patrol and ducked boundary ropes, launching a rescue mission. Their response is that they did not need rescuing and a lifetime ban from the mountain is too harsh.

Another Death In Whistler, & Couple Couple Buried In Seymour Avalanche

Karl Woll | December 27, 2008 12:08 am

I wish I was posting about happier news over the holidays, but following up yesterday’s sad post, it appears a second person has died at Whistler this week. On Christmas eve a 37 year old man died while skiing in bounds, after hitting some rocks.

A 47-year-old British Columbia skier died after hitting rocks on Whistler mountain Wednesday, just two days after a teenage snowboarder died in a similar incident at the ski resort.

The accident happened at 3 p.m. local time on Christmas Eve in an area that was open to the public, said Whistler RCMP Sgt. Steve LeClair in a news release Thursday.

The Whistler resident was skiing on the upper Dave Murray Downhill run when he left the skied area and hit some large rocks, Sgt. LeClair said.

Ski patrol and doctors came to his rescue but were unable to resuscitate him.

Also, there is a CTV article about a couple who went out of bounds in Seymour and were buried in an avalanche but luckily were able to dig themselves out before being rescued.

Two B.C. skiers are lucky to be alive after straying off track in the Mount Seymour area north of Vancouver. The couple had to dig themselves out from under an avalanche before making it back to safety on Thursday evening, along with another man who had got lost on the same mountain.

It could so easily have been a different story, said a relieved Tim Jones, spokesman for North Shore Search and Rescue. “We could have had three fatalities on our hands.”

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Tags: Accident,Avalanche,Seymour,Skiing,Whistler
Categories: News, Safety
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Teen Dies Snowboarding In Whistler

Karl Woll | December 24, 2008 8:04 am

More terrible news coming from Whistler yesterday. A 17 year old male from Burnaby died while snowboarding after hitting a boulder in an area that was roped off due to poor conditions. I think a few of the comments at the bottom of the CTV article are a bit harsh, saying its the ‘law of natural selection’. I don’t think anyone has lived through their teenage years without pushing the boundaries from time to time. If you never have then your life has probably been pretty boring. We’ve all had lapses of judgment and to make a statement like that, without knowing the type of person the individual was, is a bit much. However, the message to take away is that if you take unnecessary risks and disregard the signage, horrible things like this can happen. My thoughts go to his family, especially during this time of year.

WHISTLER, B.C. — A 17-year-old snowboarder has died on Whistler Mountain after hitting a boulder.

Whistler RCMP say the young man, from Burnaby, B.C., was boarding in an area Monday afternoon that is normally open to the public but had been closed because of snow conditions.

Sgt. Steve LeClair said numerous other people also ducked the ropes and entered the area.

“This message is obey the signage on the mountain,” LeClair said. “It’s there for the safety of the guests. Use the ski area responsibly.”

LeClair said the young man was an experienced snowboarder and was accustomed to Black Diamond runs.

“He went off a bit of a drop-off, a ten to twelve foot drop-off, and he struck a large boulder that was in the snow,” LeClair said.

The ski patrol and two mountain doctors attempted to resuscitate the teenager after the collision but he died of his injuries. Whistler RCMP believe he died from blunt force trauma to his upper body, but this cannot be confirmed until an autopsy is performed.

Police are interviewing witnesses to the incident.

The male’s family has been notified but his name has not yet been released.

His death is believed to be the first on Whistler-Blackcomb this year.

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Tags: Accident,Snowboarding & Skiing,teen,Whistler
Categories: News, Snowboarding & Skiing
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Boy Scout Snowshoe Trip Ends With Helicopter Rescue

Karl Woll | December 18, 2008 7:48 am

There is an article in the North Shore News today about a young boy scout who injured his knee snowshoeing at Seymour on the weekend.

A twisted knee translated into a ride in a rescue chopper for a North Vancouver boy scout who ran into trouble on a snowshoe trip to Mount Seymour over the weekend.

The 11-year-old was trekking up the Dog Mountain Trail near First Lake with the 18th Seymour Scouts just before noon Saturday, when he hit uneven ground and injured his knee.

When it became apparent he was unable to walk out, one of the scout leaders called for help.

Fortunately the injury doesn’t seem serious, and the highlight of this is that the North Shore Rescue leader said the group was very well prepared. Things like this should serve as a reminder to ALWAYS be prepared no matter where you are in the outdoors, even a well marked trail at Seymour with a group. This is also a reminder for me to finally update the safety section of this website for the winter section. Am working away now as my son sleeps!

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Tags: Accident,Seymour,snowshoe
Categories: News, Safety
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Update On Whistler Gondola Accident

Karl Woll | December 17, 2008 3:33 pm

Whistler has released a report stating the mountain is operational as normal with the exception of the Excalibur Gondola. They have also determined the cause of yesterday’s accident to be ‘ice jacking’ which was caused by water seeping into the tower, then freezing. The gradual accumulation of ice within the tower caused a joint to rupture and fail. The report also confirms that thankfully no one suffered any serious injuries. Below is the latest news release, and further news releases will be available here.

December 17, 2008 – The British Columbia Safety Authority (BCSA), BC’s independent auditor on passenger ropeway systems, has given approval for Whistler Blackcomb to continue regular operations on its mountain lifts, with the exception of the Excalibur Gondola.

“Preliminary inspection by BC safety officers has determined that this was an isolated incident of water contamination in a tower tube which caused a tower joint flange to fail due to ice jacking,” said Greg Paddon, safety manager from the BC Safety Authority. “There is no justification at this time that other installations operating at Whistler Blackcomb have been effected by a similar failure; the BC Safety Authority does not anticipate rescinding operating permits on any lifts currently operating at Whistler Blackcomb other than the upper and lower Excalibur Gondola. Investigation into the incident continues on both the lower and upper Excalibur Gondola; these installations will not return to service December 17, 2008.”

Tuesday afternoon at approximately 2:30pm, a structural failure on tower 4 of the Excalibur Gondola caused the gondola to cease operation. All gondola cabins remained on the line; however a number of the cabins dropped approximately 30 feet with the sagging span, and two cabins hit the ground, injuring several people. Twelve guests were treated at the Whistler Medical Clinic and all walked out on their own accord later that evening. A total of 53 people were evacuated off the affected lower line of the gondola. The evacuation was completed by 5:51pm.

Several factors converged to cause the tower failure. The structure of the tower is such that two parts are spliced together. Water had seeped into the tower which had turned to ice with the recent extreme cold temperatures. The ice build-up caused the tower splice to rupture, an extremely unusual situation referred to as “ice-jacking”. Further investigation by a team of lift manufacturer and independent engineering experts will take place early afternoon today.“

As always, our top priority is for the safety and well-being of our resort guests and employees,” says Doug Forseth, senior vice president of operations. “Whistler Blackcomb delayed opening some of our lifts this morning until the BCSA confirmed our findings from last night. After the work conducted throughout last night by our own lift maintenance team, and a secondary inspection that was completed by the BCSA, access to all our operational lifts, with the exception of the Excalibur Gondola, is expected to be available by midday.”

Following BCSA’s inspection, the following lifts are now clear to open: Emerald Express, Big Red Express and Franz’s Chair, in addition to the Whistler Village Gondola and the Creekside Gondola on Whistler Mountain. Wizard Express, Solar Coaster and Excelerator on Blackcomb. Crews have now moved to the Jersey Cream Express and Glacier Express on Blackcomb and both those are expected to be cleared shortly.

The Excalibur Gondola is a Doppelmayr lift, and was installed in 1994. A world-leader in lift design and manufacturing, Doppelmayr lifts are in operation throughout the world and their safety record is excellent.