Winter is here at higher elevations!

Summary of an avalanche incident that Southwest Alberta Regional SAR responded to today. Avalanche was triggered by a party of 3 hikers. All 3 members of the party were caught, with one of them getting fully buried. Fully buried person had one arm out of the snow, allowing the two other party members to locate and dig them out with their hands. Buried person had minor upper body injury, but the entire party was mobile and able to start walking out of the area. They were located and picked up on their way out by SAR team. Note that the avalanche was not directly observed by SAR team, and information about dimensions has been estimated based on photographs and information provided by party members.

Incident Report

Summary of an avalanche incident responded to by Southwest Alberta Regional SAR today. Avalanche was triggered by a party of 3 hikers. All 3 members of the party were caught, with one of them getting fully buried. Fully buried person had one arm out of the snow, allowing the two other party members to locate and dig them out with their hands. Buried person had minor upper body injury, but the entire party was mobile and able to start walking out of the area. They were located and picked up on their way out by SAR team. Note that the avalanche was not directly observed by SAR team, and information about dimensions have been estimated based on photographs and information provided to us by party members.