VANCOUVER — A 27-year-old snowboarder who died on Blackcomb over the weekend was from Slovakia, officials said Monday.
The victim had been living in Whistler for about a year. B.C. Coroners Service spokeswoman Barb McLintock said the man’s name is being withheld until the family arrives.
McLintock said an initial review of the accident shows the man suffocated in the deep snow in a gladed area in the Crystal Ridge area.
More than two metres of snow fell in Whistler last week and McLintock said the bottomless snowpack was the problem.
“He fell into deep, very soft snow and he couldn’t get his face clear to breathe,” she said. “It was unconsolidated snow, it was really soft.”
She warned that skiers and boarders need to pay attention to the early-season conditions and watch for buried hazards.
The man was in an inbounds gladed area known as Arthur’s Choice. “There is no suggestion he was out-of-bounds,” McLintock said.
Whistler RCMP Sgt. Rob Knapton said the man was with his girlfriend Saturday morning, but they split up as they made their way down the steep, treed run.
“He was with a partner and they got separated,” he said. Once the man’s friend realized he was still up the hill, she got the ski patrol involved.
Knapton said it’s early in the season and skiers and boarders need to pay attention when on the mountain. “There are hazards in both the backcountry and the inbounds ski area right now,” he said.
The high alpine at Whistler Blackcomb has been closed, as the avalanche hazard remains high with all the new snow.
Whistler Blackcomb spokesman Mason Buettner said they have signs up warning people to stay inbounds and watch for hazards. “We have early-season conditions and are telling people to stay within the Whistler Blackcomb boundaries,” he said. “We are marking everything we can.”
Anyone cutting under ropes to go into a closed area can lose their ski-pass privileges, he said.
Whistler opened last Wednesday and Blackcomb opened Thursday.
