01.03
Warning Signs
Since New Years Eve, there have been yet another two deaths on Whistler Blackcomb. This time it didn’t involve drugs or skiing off cliffs, it involved avalanches.
There have been three avalanches on the mountain. Here are the details:
AVALANCHE 1
At 9:30 pm on Wednesday, December 31, 2008, the Whistler Blackcomb Ski Patrol Night Search Manager was notified of a missing skier. He was last seen at 2pm at the Blackcomb Glacier Rescue Road. The RCMP was notified and a search was prepared for the morning in the area he was believed to be skiing. His body was found at 9:35 the next day. He was 37 years old.
AVALANCHE 2
On Thursday (New Years Day) Harmony Bowl opened up for a little while. They have been blasting avalanche bombs in that area, but there was a small avalanche. They sent rescue dogs looking for people, but luckily nobody was involved. Obviously, they closed the Harmony Bowl.
AVALANCHE 3
Shortly after the first slide, a second slide occurred in an area called Hidden Chute in Symphony Bowl; an area currently marked as outside the ski area boundary. There is one fatality confirmed. Whistler Patrol and the RCMP are currently investigating the slide and more details will be released as they are available.
Condolences go out to the families of the deceased.
Whistler Blackcomb is taking this very seriously. This isn’t the type of publicity they need before the Olympics. This is getting national and international news coverage.
The deaths that took place, took place in out of bounds areas. If you’re not farmiliar with the signage, please review the image above.
I’ve seen signs in the Blackcomb Glacier area that read “Passes will be revoked if you cross this line”, yet people still cross the line without hesitation. That’s incredibly stupid. There is way too much foolery here in Whistler and the last thing we need to do is send our visitors home in body bags. Please be careful.
Safety first.
For up to date avalanche information, guests can call Whistler Blackcomb’s avalanche advisory hotline at 604-938-7676 or visit the website at http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/advisory/index.htm. Guests can also visit the Canadian Avalanche Association www.avalanche.ca.