FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Castle Mountain Resort, Alberta (February 5, 2023) – On Friday, February 3, 2023 at roughly 3:40 PM, Castle Mountain Resort (CMR) Mountain Safety received a call from 911 dispatch reporting an individual in distress. 911 Dispatch was able to relay to CMR Mountain Safety staff the coordinates of the individual. CMR Mountain Safety staff determined that the location of the person was outside of CMR’s ski area boundary and not safely accessible by CMR staff. RCMP were then contacted and Southwest Alberta Regional Search and Rescue (SARSAR) was tasked to assist.
At 5:15 PM, two SARSAR members, who are also members of CMR’s Mountain Safety team, started out in the hopes of accessing the individual via the Syncline Valley. By 8:15 PM, rescuers made contact with the injured individual and found that, while he was in stable condition, he had sustained injuries that made it not feasible to downclimb to safety. The rescue party then decided to stay in place for the night. Their assessment of the patient confirmed that he had likely been involved in a size 2 avalanche outside the ski area boundary. It is believed that he was carried approximately 250 meters over rocks and through trees, where his fall was eventually arrested by small trees.
At 11:30 PM a second team of two rescuers made their way to the rescue party and injured individual, with supplies to make the overnight more comfortable including food, water, extra clothing, and sleeping bags. They made contact with the party at approximately 1:05 AM, on Saturday morning (February 4) and returned to the staging area shortly thereafter.
By 7:00 AM, Kananaskis Country Public Safety began a flight to the rescue site with the intention of extracting the individuals by helicopter. By 9:35 AM the injured individual was slung out by helicopter and handed over to EMS. The K-Country team returned to the site and picked up the two rescuers. By 10:00 AM, all rescuers had returned to the CMR Mountain Safety Office and all resources stood down.
CMR wishes to extend its gratitude to all parties involved in this successful rescue mission, including but not limited to the Pincher Creek RCMP, Southwest Alberta Regional Search & Rescue, Kananaskis Country Public Safety, Pincher Creek Emergency Services, in addition to CMR’s own involved team members.
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About Castle Mountain Resort
Closer to Heaven, Down to Earth; Castle Mountain Resort is the second largest mountain resort, in Alberta, by acreage. Nestled in the South Canadian Rockies, adjacent to the Town of Pincher Creek and the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, Castle Mountain Resort boasts 94 + runs across 3592 acres of terrain. Included in this is Castle’s Powder Stagecoach Cat Skiing operation; one of the only resort-based cat skiing operations in Western Canada. Known for its abundant snowfall and short lift lines, Castle Mountain Resort remains one of the last reasonably priced, down-to-earth, and authentic Rocky Mountain winter experiences.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Cole Fawcett
Sales & Marketing Manager
Castle Mountain Resort
E: Cole.Fawcett@skicastle.ca
P: 403-627-5101 x 244
The CMR’S Mountain Safety people have added another epic story to the long and distinguished history of that group of professionals that look after us.