A Canmore man caught in an avalanche over the weekend is lucky to be alive.
The man, who has not been identified, was backcountry ski touring alone on Mount Sparrowhawk on Saturday (Jan. 29) when the slide occurred.
Public safety specialist Mike Koppang said the man was buried up to his armpits against a tree when he used his cellphone to call for help.
Koppang said the skier was not only fortunate to have his arms free and able to get to his phone, but to even get a signal on it in order to call for help.
“It was fortunate when he was buried he was only buried up to his arms,” he said. “He was lucky to get to his cellphone and to get a signal. If any one of those things were different, it could have possibly been a different ending.”
The size two avalanche was triggered on the Reid’s Ridge feature of the mountain, which has a northeast aspect and is at around 2,100 metres.
At treeline, the avlanche risk was considerable, meaning naturally caused slides are possible and human triggered ones likely.
Koppang was doing avalanche stability work with public safety specialist Amit Dutta when they responded with Alpine Helicopters.
Given the nature of the terrain, after locating the trapped skier, Koppang said they could not land.
As a result, two conservation officers, Nick Dykshoorn and Arian Spiteri were slung into the site.
The man was conscious, alert but hypothermic and, while digging him out, they had to cut down several trees.
The man had possible lower leg, spinal and pelvic fractures and after being transported to Canmore Hospital by EMS, was taken to Calgary by STARS Air Ambulance.
Koppang said going into the backcountry alone is not encouraged and in avalanche terrain “is not a good idea”.
