skinner
Jan 19, 2007, 8:00 AM
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Thu, January 18, 2007
Snow cave collapse kills pair
UPDATED: 2007-01-18 16:24:09 MST
By BILL KAUFMANN, CALGARY SUN
http://calsun.canoe.ca/...7/01/18/3401735.html
Two backcountry skiers found dead in a collapsed snow cave on a Yoho National Park mountainside were likely entombed there for two weeks, said the Parks Canada official who found them.
A man, 25 and his 27-year-old girlfriend — residents of Kamloops — had set out in mid-December for a 30-day outing in the popular Wapta Icefields area and were due back Jan. 14.
When they failed to return, the woman’s parents alerted authorities and a helicopter search party on Wednesday spotted the couple’s equipment at the 9,600-ft. level, with their bodies discovered beneath 3 metres of snow nearby.
Searcher Marc Ledwidge said the pair, who’ve yet to be named but are known as experienced outdoor enthusiasts, were last seen Jan. 4 by skiers at the Stanley Mitchell hut and were on their way to Bow hut, about a 10-hour trip away.
“It’s common practice to stop and camp out between huts — the days are very short and the weather was not good that day, it slows you down,” said Ledwidge, of the area 150 km northwest of Calgary.
“What they did was the right thing to do, they did everything right.”
Ledwidge said he believes the cave collapsed on the two the night after they’d left Stanley Mitchell hut.
A build-up of moisture is believed to have led to the cave-in and an avalanche has been ruled out.
The couple’s log book was recovered from the site, though parks officials are waiting for better weather, possibly on Sunday, to retrieve the bodies.
The last entry in the book was dated Jan. 3, said Sgt. Marko Shehovac of Golden RCMP.
“They were making pretty good, daily reports then it stops,” said Shehovac.
The diary noted the two experienced cave-in problems with an earlier snow burrow, he said.
Other entries, said Shehovac, describe meeting other skiers along the spectacular route dotted by food caches.
“They experienced white-outs, it sounds like the trip was something they were looking forward to, a challenge,” he said.
Searchers pored over skier logs at cabins and trailheads to track down the pair and found them after several hours of scouring by air, said Ledwidge.
(edited due to updates)
(This post was edited by skinner on Jan 19, 2007, 8:11 AM)
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