FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STATEMENT ON IN-BOUNDS AVALANCHE – 2/15/2019
Castle Mountain Resort, Alberta (February 15, 2019) –
This morning an in-bounds avalanche occurred at Castle Mountain Resort, in the vicinity of the top station of Tamarack (Red) Chairlift.
There were two guests involved in the avalanche, one of whom was fully buried and another who was partially buried. Both guests were rescued by Castle Mountain Resort’s Mountain Safety Team (Ski Patrol).
EMS was activated as the situation unfolded and both patients were found to be uninjured after an initial assessment by Castle Mountain Resort’s Mountain Safety Team and a subsequent assessment by EMS personnel.
This avalanche did not damage any Castle Mountain Resort infrastructure (including lifts).
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 southern Alberta Rockies, adjacent to the communities of Pincher Creek and the 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 affordable, down-to-earth, and authentic Rocky Mountain winter experiences.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Cole Fawcett
Sales & Marketing Manager
P: 403-627-5101 X 244
E: Cole.Fawcett@skicastle.ca
For a PDF version of this release please click here.
so is the mountain gonna be open on the 16th ?
Hi Tom,
Thanks for your message. Tamarack (Red) Chair re-opened at approximately 2 PM this afternoon. The rest of our lifts remained open throughout the day and tomorrow is anticipated to be a regular operational day for us.
All the best,
Cole Fawcett
We were there today and on the Tamarack chair when it was stopped for this incident. When the chair was restarted and we arrived at the top, we were VERY impressed with the thoroughness of the remaining search efforts. The search crew was probing on their second pass of the avalanche and 2 avalanche dogs were also searching the area. The situation was handled with the utmost of professionalism, and the communication to the skiers on the chair is was excellent. Seeing the Castle crew and the ski patrol in action really impressed me and makes me feel safer bringing my family to Castle to ski.
Scott,
We can’t tell you how much your comments mean to us. Thank you so much for your kind words. We are all so proud of our Mountain Safety team and how they handled things yesterday. I will be sure to pass this onto them.
All the best,
Cole Fawcett
Sales & Marketing Manager
The comment from Scott Sherman above is very comforting and statements from the individuals involved would also be very very valuable! I hope these observations from the people involved will get out to the public in order to tame the “rumour mill”.
Having spent a season at Castle last year, and 6 weeks this, I am full of praise for the ski patrollers and the avalanche team. They are consummate professionals and contribute significantly to the beautiful Castle experience. They are my unsung heroes.
Lorraine,
Thank you so much for your kind words. Our patrollers are mighty humble folks but the contribution they make cannot be measured. I’ll be sure to pass on your sentiments!
Hello.
Cole, can you give any additional information about incident? Where exactly it happened? On the ski piste or near? May be some photos from that place?
Hi Dmitrii,
Thanks for your message. As our statement makes mention, this incident occurred within our ski area boundaries in the immediate vicinity of the top unload (station) of Tamarack (Red) Chairlift. While I don’t have photos for you I can tell you that this happened within eyesight of our patrollers who were stationed in their summit patrol hut.
The guests were rescued within minutes and avalanche dogs were brought in, from other areas of the mountain, but only performed a secondary search in an attempt to retrieve equipment (skis, poles) which may have been buried under the snow. Our fully buried guest was found via probe strike.
Where on the hill did this actually occur? Was it on a specific trail?
Hi Tyler,
Thanks for your message. As the statement makes mention, the avalanche occurred within our ski area boundary, in the immediate vicinity of the Tamarack (Red) Chair top station or unload.