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Skier seriously injured after sliding off cliff at Sunshine

BANFF – A skier who ducked under the ropes at Sunshine Village suffered a serious back injury after he fell over a 25-metre cliff in a permanently closed area.
Sunshine
A 35-year-old skier suffered a serious back injury after going off a 25-metre cliff in a permanently closed area near the Wild West freeride zone at Sunshine Village on Jan. 4.

BANFF – A skier who ducked under the ropes at Sunshine Village suffered a serious back injury after he fell over a 25-metre cliff in a permanently closed area.

It’s believed the 35-year-old skier may have triggered an avalanche when conditions in the region were extreme. The incident happened on the morning of Friday (Jan. 4).

Officials say they don’t know for sure whether the avalanche came first, or if the skier went off the edge of the cliff near an expert-only area known as the Wild West.

“We ascertain that he may have triggered a slide at the top where/when he travelled off the cliff,” said Dave Riley, Sunshine’s chief operating officer and senior vice-president, in an email.

The call came into to Sunshine ski patrol at 9:39 a.m. from the skier’s friends, who reported they lost their friend right of Goat’s Eye.

Ski hill officials say ski patrol found tracks going out-of-bounds under a double rope line that had warning signage.

They say patrollers belayed down the top of the cliff and got a visual on him; then traversed around the cliff and walked in to him.

Riley’s email indicated the man’s condition meant he couldn’t be transported with a sled in the rough terrain so ski patrol called Parks Canada, which in turn dispatched a helicopter.

He said it was a multi-agency response between Sunshine Village, Parks Canada and Banff EMS, which worked well.

“He was long-lined off the mountain to the parking lot to the base area,” said Riley. “Banff EMS took him from there.”

Riley said the message is to pay attention and abide by all ski area closures, ropes and signage.

“We put these closures and warnings up for good reasons,” he said. “If people go into the backcountry, they need to be prepared for self rescue and accept the consequences of their decisions.”

A winter storm that dumped up to 70 centimetres of snow in certain areas last week led to an extreme danger rating in Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks. It’s rare that avalanche danger hits extreme.

Extreme means people should avoid all avalanche terrain because natural and human-triggered avalanches are certain.

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