by Goat staff with files from RCMP
A father and son were killed last weekend when an avalanche swept them away as they were snowmobiling near Invermere.
The Columbia Valley RCMP and Columbia Valley Search and Rescue team attended the fatal avalanche on Mount Brewer near Invermere.
On Saturday January 12, 2019 at approximately 2:50 pm, RCMP was notified by the International Emergency Response Coordination Centre of an emergency beacon message regarding snowmobilers being caught in an avalanche on the East face of Mount Brewer.
A group of nine snowmobilers from Calgary were snowmobiling together. The avalanche was reportedly triggered after one of the snowmobilers was high marking. Columbia Valley RCMP requested the assistance of the local Search & Rescue team, who arrived at the location and recovered a 51-year-old man from Calgary. They began CPR and the man was flown to the Invermere and District Hospital where he was confirmed deceased.
The man’s 24-year-old son was located by Columbia Valley Search and Rescue in a lake early on Monday but his body could not be recovered until later the same day when RCMP Underwater Recovery Divers were able to enter the water and free the man.
No injuries were reported to the other seven snowmobilers.
