Deadly avalanche hits near ski resort

An avalanche near one of Canada’s most popular ski resorts swept two men off a cliff, killing one and seriously injuring the other, authorities said tonight.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the men probably triggered the avalanche yesterday when they entered a remote area near West Bowl, Whistler, marked “permanently closed”.

The injured man, who was on a snowboard, was in a hospital in Vancouver with injuries that were not life threatening, Staff Sgt Steve Leclair said.

The man who died was on skis.

Authorities did not release their names tonight.

Both worked in Whistler, Mr Leclair said.

Two other men were killed after triggering an avalanche on Christmas Eve in British Columbia’s interior. They had been snowmobiling at a lake when a small avalanche hit.

They were digging themselves out when a larger one hit, killing them both.

On the other side of the border, searchers in northwest Washington today found the body of a second snowmobiler killed in a separate avalanche.

That avalanche hit five snowmobilers yesterday, and the body of a 43-year-old woman who was wearing an avalanche beacon was found the same day.

Searchers found the body of a missing 63-year-old man this afternoon, the Whatcom County sheriff’s office said.

The names of the victims were not immediately released.