Mongolia Bowl Avalanche February 1
Three skiers were able to escape an avalanche near Fernie, B.C., Tuesday afternoon.
About 2:30 p.m., Fernie Alpine Resort received a distress call from a male skier who needed help rescuing his two friends.
The three males had been skiing outside the resort’s controlled recreational area when an avalanche was triggered.
Resort spokesman Matt Mosteller said the avalanche happened in an area called the Mongolia Bowl, which he described as a backcountry ski touring spot.
Hill staff alerted RCMP and consequently Fernie Search and Rescue was called out.
But within minutes of the original call from the stranded skier, Mounties were told the three males were able to escape the avalanche area on their own and climb back into the resort’s boundaries.
“We were stood down within five minutes — the subjects had managed to self-rescue,” said Scott Robinson of Fernie Search and Rescue.
STARS Air Ambulance was en route to the resort, two kilometres southwest of the town of Fernie, about 4:15 p.m. for a report of one male patient who had sustained injuries in an avalanche, said STARS spokesman Cam Heke.
RCMP said one of the three males was being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
