Avalanche Canada releases details on B.C. avalanche that killed three Germans

INVERMERE, B.C. – Avalanche Canada has released more details about the deadly avalanche that killed three German citizens in southeastern British Columbia last week.

It says in an incident report that nine heli-skiers and one guide were about 30 km southwest of Invermere, B.C., in the Coppercrown Mountain region on a run called “Too bad about the skiing.”

It says the guide was regrouping higher up on the run, when "the fifth person in the group triggered a settlement at the regroup, which initiated the avalanche above."

The organization says the entire group was swept into the sparse forested area next to the larger avalanche path.

It says two guests were fully buried and died on scene, while the guide and three others were partially buried and critically injured, and another sustained non-critical injuries.

Avalanche Canada says all of the injured skiers were airlifted to the Invermere Hospital, where one of them died.

The organization has described the avalanche as a class 3, meaning it was large enough to destroy a building and break trees. The report says the avalanche was 300 metres in width and 75 centimetres thick.

Last week, the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur says the mayor of the municipality of Eging, east of Munich, has confirmed the three men were from Germany and two were residents of his small Bavarian town.

Mayor Walter Bauer told the news agency that the other man was from Munich.

Avalanche Canada has warned about an extremely unstable snowpack across most of B.C. this season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2023.