Snowboarder calls for help after avalanche buries two friends, Canada officials say
Two Alaskan snowboarders were killed in an avalanche in Canada on Monday, officials say.
Three snowboarders were climbing a slope in Haines Summit near a highway in British Columbia and were about two-thirds of the way up and at an elevation of about 3,313 when an avalanche was triggered, according to Avalanche Canada.
It was about 5 feet deep and ran about 490 feet into a terrain trap, catching all three snowboarders, Avalanche Canada says.
Two of them were fully buried but the third was partially buried and able to get free and call for help using satellite messaging, according to Avalanche Canada.
Rescuers responded to the slope at about 1:40 p.m. with a rescue helicopter and located one snowboarder, according to a release from Haines Volunteer Fire Department in Alaska.
When rescuers arrived they determined the other two were dead, the release says.
The two have been identified as Zane Durr and Matthew Green, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
They were both 21 and the snowboarder who survived is 16, KTVA reported.
The three snowboarders were all friends from Haines, according to the fire department. Green and Durr were roommates in Washington, where they were attending school, KTVA reported.
Canadian officials will send their bodies back to the United States, the fire department says.
“Our prayers are with all members of their families and our hearts are broken in their loss,” the release says.
This story was originally published January 1, 2020 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Snowboarder calls for help after avalanche buries two friends, Canada officials say."
