Eight snowmobilers died in a tragic series of avalanches South East of Fernie due to the regions most dangerous snowpack in years. A shallow snowpack with extreme cold temperatures with new snow on top created the hazard.  The snowmobilers were prepared for avalanche rescue however the complexity and magnitude of the slides was devastating.

The Canadian Avalanche Centre raised the awareness forecast to High a few hours following the accident.

The dead have been identified as Warren Rothel, Thomas Talarico, Kane Rusnak, Danny Bjarnason, Leonard Stier and his son Michael Stier, Kurt Kabel and Blaine Wilson.

A candlelight vigil was held Monday night in Sparwood as a town faced a tragic end to days of searching.

Here ia an edited version of remarks made by Jeff Adams as he described the plight of snowmobilers trapped Sunday by a series of avalanches South of Fernie:

“We were riding in the bottom of the bowl. No one was climbing, no one was high-marking.

At approximately 1:40 in the afternoon, Mike Stier was stuck at the base of the mountain, getting his sled out when the first slide hit us.

Everybody was down at the bottom, all scattering, running. I stood and watched Mike so I wouldn’t lose sight of him because I knew he was going to be buried, and little did I know I ended up being buried myself.

After being under the snow for a minute or two Danny [Bjarnson] dug me out. I got up and I asked ‘Who are we missing?’ He said ‘Mike.’

I took off all my gear, got my shovel out, my probe, flipped my Pieps (locator/transmitter) over to search and we went looking for Mike.

We located Mike. We started digging and that’s when the second group of four guys showed up, came right up to where we were digging. They all jumped off their sleds, started digging, too.

At approximately 2 o’clock Kurt Kabel pushed 911 on his spot transmitter and Jeremy Rusnak was getting geared up to go out for help. At approximately 2:05 we heard “crack” and that’s when the second slide hit us, burying all 11 of us.

I managed to float almost to the surface. When I opened my eyes I could see daylight. I was digging. I managed to get my mouth free. I was already choking. I took a few breaths.

After about five minutes of struggling, I got myself out. I looked around and realized there wasn’t anybody else. I couldn’t see any sleds, no gear, nothing.

I yelled. I heard somebody yell back, and that’s when I went and found Jeremy [Rusnak]. I had no gloves, no toque. I started digging Jeremy out. It took about 15 minutes to get him out. I got him out and then Jeremy stood up and yelled again and we heard one more person.

That’s when we found James [Drake]. We were digging James out and we heard a crack again and we said, ‘Sorry James, we gotta run.’ And as we were running away from James [he yelled] ‘Don’t leave me here! Don’t leave me here!’ We kept saying, ‘We’re sorry.’

We sat off to the side and the slide never hit us in the area we were in. We just got the snow cloud. We went back in, finally got James out, pulled James off to the side.

I flipped my peeps back over, but the only signal I could get was Mike Stier’s and I knew it was too deep with no equipment to help him.

I took a quick look around. I couldn’t see anybody, couldn’t see no hands, feet sticking up. We contemplated trying to get the one snowmobile that wasn’t hit by the slide out.

That’s when we made the decision it’s not safe to go in there, and that’s when we had to make the gut-wrenching decision to leave our eight friends and start walking off the mountain.

After we walked for about 10 minutes or so, contemplating whether to go back, try to look one more time, I turned to look at the mountain. The whole centre of the mountain came down, burying everything again. So we just decided that our best bet was to keep walking.

I kept asking Jeremy what time it was, because I knew if the 911 call worked it wouldn’t be long for a helicopter.

The helicopter – we could see it circling around the slide area for about five minutes.

It started coming down the valley toward us. We thought everything was going to be OK. Then it went away from us, so we just decided to keep walking. We were trying to find a cabin.

We saw the helicopter come back over the mountain one more time. This time for some reason it just came straight at us and found us, picked all three of us up and took us out of there.”

For the 20 minute video of Jeff’s interview click here.

This December an historic first flight established direct international air service to Canadian Rockies International Airport (YXC) at Cranbrook, British. Delta Air Lines Flight 4543 from Salt Lake City (SLC) touched down on time at 1:08 pm and was welcomed by over 250 residents assembled on the apron, cheering and waving Canadian flags.

Dignitaries aboard the flight joined the official welcome and Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce function inside the terminal for the welcome toast and short presentations by Cranbrook Mayor Scott Manjak and Tourism BC Vice-President, Don Foxgord. Mr. Foxgord conveyed best wishes from Tourism British Columbia and the Minister of Tourism, Honourable Bill Bennett.

This service links Fernie to Delta’s Salt Lake City World hub.  Enjoy!

901 Fernie has released its fourth and final phase of development and this 1908 Schoolhouse building is a tribute to regeneration.  The former local high school is granted a second life with quality building materials, mechanical systems and luxurious amenities.

Unique to the Schoolhouse are the beautiful, glass-enclosed third floor penthouses.  These residences feature unbelievable views and offer a seamless blend of the building’s history with today’s lavish facilities.  It marks a first for our mountain town, maximizing indoor/outdoor living with heated patio areas and floor to ceiling windows, truly capturing the panoramic views.

This development has clearly satisfied a niche in the real estate market. The first three phases are completely sold out, and the fourth and final phase of 901 Fernie is already one third sold.

As the listing agent for this development, Fernie Real Estate Company is hosting a cocktail party and a tour of a Penthouse Suite on January 3rd, 2009 at 7:00pm.  We would love to see you there and show you this extraordinary and unique real estate opportunity.  As numbers for this event are limited please RSVP as soon as possible to secure your space.

Toll Free: 1.877.423.2001
Phone: 250.423.2000
E-mail: mail@fernierealestate.com

Manuel Osborne-Paradis (Vancouver, BC) captured the fourth FIS Alpine World Cup downhill podium of his career today, finishing third in Val Gardena, ITA to lead an impressive overall result for the Canadian Alpine Ski Team.

Teammate Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC), who twice had the fastest downhill training run earlier this week, also had a solid day, placing fifth with Robbie Dixon (Whistler, BC) providing a strong late result, taking 13th spot for his career best DH result despite wearing bib #49.

The 24-year-old Osborne-Paradis charged down the Saslong course to finish in a time of one minute 51.11 seconds.

“This was big. It was good for me. I have been so close to being on the podium and just haven’t been able to do it. To finally get on that step was a big achievement for me,” said Osborne-Paradis, who earned his fourth podium in 58 career World Cup starts.

Osborne-Paradis had placed 22nd and 37th in downhill training runs earlier in the week in Val Gardena before grabbing 13th spot in yesterday’s super G.

“I just pulled it together today. Today is what counts,” he said. “In races to come I hope to be better in the training because there is no reason why I shouldn’t and, yes, it does make it harder for me on race day.”

Austrian Michael Walchhofer was the winner today, the 14th victory of his career, with American Bode Miller returning to form to finish second.

John Kucera (Calgary, AB) placed 22nd to round out the Canadian performances.

This is the third World Cup podium result of the season for the Canadian Alpine Ski Team, following Kucera’s second place finish in the super G in Lake Louise, AB late last month and Guay’s third place performance in Beaver Creek, USA downhill a week later. There were seven North Americans in the top 10 spots in today’s race.

Coverage of today’s men’s downhill from Val Gardena is on the Pontiac Alpine Ski Series on CBC at 2 p.m. ET with the ladies super G from St. Moritz beginning at 5 p.m. ET. Radio-Canada also has coverage of both today’s super G from St. Moritz and the men’s race in Val Gardena starting at 12:30 ET.

Also note that yesterday’s men’s super G race from Val Gardena, ITA can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet East today at 4:30 p.m. and West at 5 p.m. in those areas. Be sure to check your local listings as broadcast times are subject to change without notice.

Aerialist Warren Shouldice of Calgary captured a bronze medal in FIS Freestyle World Cup action Saturday, as several other jumpers struggled with the windy conditions.

High winds forced cancellation of the men’s aerials event Friday, when the women managed to complete a one-jump final.

Defending overall men’s World Cup aerials champion Steve Omischl of Kelowna, B.C., was among those who battled the changing speeds on the in-run before finishing fifth. Shouldice’s eighth medal of his World Cup career also represented his first podium performance in a season-opener.

His one World Cup victory also came at this Adventure Mountain site, in 2005. The volatile conditions caused several delays, but Shouldice was ecstatic with his result.

Aerialist Veronika Bauer of Toronto looked past a bumpy 2007-08 World Cup freestyle ski season and turbulent weather conditions Friday to open a new season with a bronze medal.

Windy, snowy conditions forced cancellation of the World Cup’s second round of jumps for women and the entire men’s aerials event.

But one round was enough to determine the female medallists, as Bauer collected the 20th World Cup medal of her career with one of her more difficult jumps.

“It didn’t exactly happen here, because of the conditions,” said Bauer, 29. “But I went into the season thinking I’m going to do great jumps every competition.”

New for Revelstoke, BC: an alpine guide service—the first of its kind in this part of the Canadian backcountry.  Revelstoke Alpine Adventures (RAA) made its debut Dec. 8, offering guided services for skiing, hiking, waterfall ice climbing, rock climbing, and mountaineering adventures, as well as avalanche skills training courses.

Having guided in the Revelstoke area for a combined 40 years, RAA owners Norm Winter and David Scott are seasoned veterans. Winter and Scott are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and members of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association.   All RAA guides will be certified by the ACMG, which takes a minimum of 5 years of training and testing.

“Our experiences range from several hours to several days,” says co-owner Norm Winter. “We provide experienced professionally certified guides who personally coach guests throughout the journey. Guests can count on our team to help them push personal limits while balancing adventure and safety. We’ve had many guests tell us at the end of a trip that they cannot believe what they were able to accomplish. Our guests have told us that many of these experiences change their lives and expand their personal boundaries.”

For more info: 877-837-7141, or visit www.revelstokealpineadventures.com

Two Rocky Mountain skiers were killed in separate slides so far this season. On December 14, Aspen local Cory Brettman died skiing just out of bounds on Aspen Mountain. The same day, Heather Gross, a 27-year-old Salt Lake City resident, was killed at Snowbird by an in-bounds slide.

Brettman, 52, a husband and father of two little girls, had ski patrolled at Breckenridge and Aspen for 26 years. And Snowbird, more than maybe any other ski area in the U.S., has built the template for snow control. All of which proves (as it always proves in regards to snow, gravity and friction), that you never really know.

The accident report can be viewed at http://avalanche.state.co.us/pub/accidents_co.php?accident=20081214_aspen

Even more reason to be a regular reader of the newly redesigned/upgraded National Av Center website and (put online on Dec. 5.) The bulk of the work on the site has been putting together an online avalanche awareness tutorial.

The tutorial is a thorough avalanche awareness class with easy to understand narrative, photos, diagrams and a variety of short, high energy educational videos.  Naturally, the tutorial strongly emphasizes that everyone should take an actual avalanche class in addition to going through the tutorial

Here is the US website: www.fsavalanche.com

For snow reports in Canada visit: http://www.avalanche.ca/HomeCAC

Fernie’s Emily Brydon tied a career best finishing today’s opening ladies super combined of the FIS Alpine World Cup season in St. Moritz, SUI, in ninth position. Brydon, who has placed ninth twice before in a World Cup SC, finished today in a two-run combined time of one minute 43.89.

Brydon, who won a super G in St. Moritz last year, was in second place after today’s opening SG run and followed that up with the 15th fastest slalom.

“My performance in the super G was really good today but I don’t do a whole lot of slalom training. If I am going to move up in the super combined, that’s something I will have to focus on,” said Brydon.

“Being back in St. Moritz is great. I am very comfortable here, I like the snow and there’s no stress. I am really focused on my skiing and just getting the best result that I can tomorrow,” said Brydon, who currently sits in the Top 10 in the downhill, super G and super combined ladies discipline standings.

Sweden’s Anja Paerson returned to the top of the podium today, with a winning two-run combined time of 1:41.87 with Austria’s Nicole Hosp more than a second back and Fabienne Suter of Switzerland in third spot. It was Paerson’s first win since the super G in St. Moritz in 2007 and the 39th of her career.

Today also marked a career-best achievement for Larisa Yurkiw (Owen Sound, ON), who placed 25th. A 29th place finish at the Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart downhill was her only previous top 30 World Cup result.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) announced today that due to weather conditions the ladies super G would be held tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. CET and the downhill on Sunday at 11 a.m. CET. That is a reversed order from what was originally scheduled.

Racing can be seen live from St. Moritz on www.cbcsports.ca.  CBC’s Pontiac Alpine Ski Series is scheduled to have Saturday’s race at 5 p.m. ET with Radio-Canada Sports coverage getting underway at 12:30 p.m. ET. Check your local listings as times are subject to change.

World champion Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que., highlighted a triple medal performance for Canada on Thursday with a gold medal in men’s dual moguls at the season opening event on the freestyle skiing FIS World Cup circuit.

Rousseau defeated Alexandre Bilodeau of Rosemère, Que., in the men’s final while Olympic champion Jennifer Heil of Spruce Grove, Alta., raced for the first time in 20 months and also took silver in the women’s dual moguls event.

In men’s dual moguls, Rousseau and Bilodeau were almost mirror images in the final from start to finish.

”It’s a fantastic way to start the season,” said Rousseau, 29, after his fourth career World Cup win. “Alex beat me last season at the Canadian Championships and now it’s my turn. He’s my toughest opponent in dual moguls and we really push each other. I know it’s going to be fast against him and you have to push to the limit. It was so close today… we were in sync racing down the course.”

Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau, Alexandre Bilodeau and Jenn Heil

Bilodeau wasn’t disappointed in the least to lose the final. Less than two months ago he suffered a foot fracture and aced his first major test on Thursday.

”I’m super satisfied,” said Bilodeau, 21, savouring a 12th career World Cup medal. “I was pretty nervous heading into the competition. I had a tough November and it was very stressful to get back on the hills. I was limping for three weeks and I couldn’t put too much pressure on the foot. Today’s result is not a loss for me at all. It gives me a lot of momentum for the rest of the season.”

Vincent Marquis of Quebec City was 11th.

In women’s dual moguls, Hannah Kearney of the U.S., defeated Heil in the final. Heil, 25, who now resides in Montreal, took last season off to work on improving some technical aspects of her body positioning. Her return Thursday proves her 20 months of hard work in the gym has paid off.

”Getting back in that starting gate I realized how much I missed the thrill of competition,” said Heil, a four-time overall World Cup champion. “I felt amazing and I’m so happy with my result. There’s so much more I know I can do but today was a chance to show that I was back and contending.”

Heil finished fourth in qualifying and posted victories in her quarterfinal and semi-final duals.

”I made a mistake in the final against Hannah,” said Heil. “I came off the top jump and I just didn’t have total control and went off course a bit. I couldn’t make up for that. Still 20 months is a really long time and it was a big challenge to get back into the competitive environment.”

Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was ninth, Stéphanie St-Pierre of Victoriaville, Que., 12th, Maxime Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal 13th, Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C., 16th and Chloé Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal, 21st.

The Aerials World Cup season gets underway Friday in China.

A coalition of citizens’ groups has launched a  province-wide campaign around a five-point action plan they say could end the
current stalemate on coalbed methane development.

“Across B.C., coalbed methane projects are being delayed or stopped by local  conflict because residents lack confidence in the province’s approval process and  regulations,” said Ted Ralfe, spokesperson for CCCBM-East Kootenay. “The action plan we’re proposing is a way to restore public confidence and create a  more certain investment climate for companies.”

The coalition, Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane, released its five-point plan on a new website, www.concernedaboutcbm.org. The plan, “Building a safe future for CBM,” calls for the following –

1. Suspend CBM drilling across B.C. until four key policy improvements are in
place
2. Local communities have a clear say in deciding where and how CBM projects
proceed
3. CBM projects undergo mandatory environmental assessments that address
cumulative impacts
4. “World-class” CBM regulations promised in B.C.’s Energy Plan are fully
implemented and enforced
5. Sufficient funds are dedicated to independent baseline research and to
proving the safety of “world-class” technologies.

“We acknowledge that once sound regulations are in place, CBM drilling can occur safely in some places,” said Shannon McPhail, Executive Director of Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition. “However, the approval process must start with the question of social license, and projects should proceed only if there is broad public support.”

Today’s campaign launch follows a mixed-bag announcement from the B.C. government earlier this month, which put the brakes on CBM drilling in the Sacred Headwaters while greenlighting another controversial CBM project in the
Elk Valley.

“This kind of contradictory decision-making highlights the need for a consistent approach to approving and regulating CBM projects across the province,” said Sol Allison, Director of Save Our Similkameen. “Government has already made some progress towards better standards for CBM. We’re calling for a province- wide pause on new drilling to allow the full action plan to be implemented.”

B.C. residents and organizations are invited to sign on to the action plan at www.concernedaboutcbm.org and show their support for a consistent, responsible approach to CBM across the province.

“We think industry will also be interested in this action plan, because it would increase investor confidence and allow good projects to proceed safely and smoothly,” adds Ted Ralfe. “Today’s band-aid approach serves neither CBM companies nor communities in the long run.”

Coalbed methane projects have been or are currently proposed in B.C.’s Elk Valley (British Petroleum), Similkameen Valley (Petrobank), Sacred Headwaters (Royal Dutch Shell), Hudson’s Hope area (Hudson’s Hope Gas, Royal Dutch Shell), Vancouver Island, and Telkwa.

Ted Ralfe – Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane-East Kootenay  (250) 423 6844