Experienced snowmobiler from Seattle dies after falling into glacier crevasse

PEMBERTON, B.C. – A snowmobiler from Seattle has died after falling into a crevasse on a glacier in British Columbia.

The 53-year-old man was part of a group of 10 people, all from Seattle, who were riding Saturday on the Pemberton Icefield’s Appas Glacier, about 150 kilometres north of Vancouver.

After he went missing, the other members in his group used a flare gun to divert a heli-skiing helicopter, whose guide rappelled into the crevasse to confirm the man had died.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve LeClair says the group was well prepared with emergency equipment and that each member reported having more than 10 years of experience.

He says there have been four calls for search and rescue in the area over the past three days, but that the others were the result of poor preparation.

No one died in the other three incidents.