Skier seriously injured after being carried 200m during avalanche near Courtenay

Skier seriously injured after being carried 200m during avalanche near Courtenay
Avalanche Canada
A view of Mount Cameron following Sunday's avalanche.

A report on the Avalanche Canada website says one skier has been seriously hurt in an avalanche on central Vancouver Island.

The report says it happened Sunday on Mount Cameron, southwest of Courtenay.

Two skiers were on a treed ridge feature when one of them “skied onto a small convexity approximately 35 degrees steep,” says a statement in the report from Avalanche Canada. This caused a fracture to occur about 20m above the skier.

According to experts, the fracture was 200-300m wide and from 30 to 150cm high.

Both skiers were caught in a slide that carried them almost 200 metres down a slope, leaving one buried nearly 1.5 metres under the debris.

The report says the second skier skidded along the slide’s surface and was able to locate and free the injured person within about five minutes. The exact condition of that person hasn’t been released, however, the report says that the buried skier sustained serious injuries.

The report comes as Avalanche Canada says recent heavy snowfall has raised the slide risk to high in the alpine and some treeline sections from the South Coast and Sea-to-Sky, east to the entire Columbia range and the Kootenay-Boundary region.

A high rating means very dangerous snow conditions exist and travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.

With files to Canadian Press.

Graham CoxGraham Cox

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