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Serving the South Country, Fernie, Sparwood, Elkford since 1898
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First Place ll
FREE
Griz pin winner is $1,000 richer
FSS ski and snowboard teams - Page 23 FAR
Dave Aikens awarded for service - Page 3 BUSINESS
Nufloors - Page 5
ARTS
Ed Thiessen from Fernie is the lucky recipient of $1,000 for buying the winning Griz Days pin this year. Ed works at the Griz Inn, where he originally bought two pins. He then decided to buy one more, which turned out to be lucky pin 1196! He said he has no plans for what to do with the money yet. Congratulations Ed! Photo by A. Treharne
Massive avalanches leave one man dead By Angela Treharne Free Press Staff
Buckman Coe brings blues - Page 15
RCMP
Crime reports - Pages 24, 29 and 31
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snowmobiler died Friday in an avalanche near Sparwood, and a skier had to be rescued after an avalanche near Fernie. Steven Hall, 33, from Birchcliff near Red Deer, Alberta, was in a group of seven snowmobilers touring in the Corbin area 30 km southeast of Sparwood when the avalanche hit them around noon. Six managed to escape but Hall was hit by the slide. He was recovered fairly quickly but pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor who was in the group. Sparwood Search and Rescue as well as the RCMP Police Dog Service from Cranbrook had to access the
scene via helicopter and were able to ensure all the others were safely removed from the area. The coroner’s office said Hall died as a result of injuries sustained from the avalanche. At around 2:30 p.m. four skiers touring on Fernie Ridge triggered a size three avalanche, which carried one man down the avalanche chute and into some trees. He severely injured his leg. The group called for help and Fernie Search and Rescue attended. They were unable to get the man airlifted by helicopter because of the windy conditions. A team of 11 rescuers was dropped on the ridge, just as it was getting dark. Simon Piney from Search and Rescue was one of the rescuers. He
said the injured man was at the base of a very steep slope and the team used a rope system to bring him back up the ridge. “The man was hypothermic. We made a fire to warm him up, stabilized his injuries and set up camp for the night,” said Piney. “The conditions were bad Friday but luckily they were better Saturday and we were able to evacuate him at 6:15 a.m.” The man was taken to hospital in Fernie then transferred to Cranbrook for surgery. The snowslides hit the same day the Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC) issued a special warning that the avalanche risk was extremely high in the area’s backcountry. The CAC still has the risk rated
as high for the South Rockies and Lizard Range at treeline level and above and advises people to cancel their backcountry adventures unless they are highly trained. “Local knowledge and a high degree of training and experience are required to travel safely in avalanche terrain currently,” said CAC’s Public Avalanche Warning Services Coordinator, Ilya Storm. “Knowing the slope history is key to good decisions right now. And make sure you park in safe spots— well to the side of any avalanche path or far away from the runout zone. “Given the size of recent avalanches, the bottom of runout zones might be further than you think.”