Skiers weighed avalanche risk Final Edition

• Published in: Times colonist (Victoria)
• Main Author: Shelley Knapp, David Heyman and Lynne Koziey
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Victoria, B.C Postmedia Network Inc 04.02.2003
• Subjects: Jacobson, Elyse; CALGARY

He said he has talked with Andrew Nicholson and Dale Roth, the two certified teachers who led the expedition to Balu Pass which was hit by an avalanche on Saturday. He said he is confident that everything was done properly. Discussions were conducted with park authorities about weather conditions and the snow was examined for avalanche signs. A group decision was then made to go forward in the area where the avalanche risk was deemed considerable. Purse made the initial determination that the teens died of asphyxiation, a common cause in such tragedies. He examined the bodies at a temporary morgue set up at Rogers Pass hours after the avalanche and found none showed any broken bones from boulders, ice, trees or other debris. Instead, they suffocated under the crushing weight of snow packed so hard that it was impossible for those trapped to move their limbs or even expand their lungs to breathe. Photo: Ted Jacob, Southam Newpapers / Parks Canada avalanche investigators prepare to be lifted to the site of Saturday's disaster on Mount Cheops at Rogers Pass. The base of Mount Cheops is shown in background. The team will ski the path of the avalanche.