A 38-year-old Revelstoke man died after getting caught in an avalanche in Glacier National Park on Sunday.
Jason Chad Westbury was skiing in the Sifton Col area with two friends he triggered an avalanche happened. He was testing conditions in the bowl while his partners waited at the top when he was caught and buried in a size 2.5 avalanche.
He was dug out of the snow by his partners. One stayed behind to conduct CPR while the other skied to the Rogers Pass Centre to get help.
Parks Canada’s visitor safety and avalanche technicians responded by helicopter, however Westbury died at the scene.
Revelstoke RCMP, Revelstoke Victim Services and the B.C. Coroners Service were on hand to assist with the investigation.
According to the Glacier National Park avalanche bulletin, the avalanche happened on a west aspect at about 2,600 metres in elevation. The avalanche failed on a surface hoar sitting on a sun crust. The slab was 25 centimetres deep, 100 metres wide and 120 metres long. The victim was buried 1.9 metres deep, the bulletin stated.
The avalanche danger was rated considerable in the alpine on Sunday, meaning natural avalanches were possible and human triggered avalanches likely.
It was the second fatal avalanche of the weekend. On Saturday, one person died after getting caught in a massive slide near Kimberley, B.C.
