PEMBERTON, B.C. - Three skiers in southwestern B.C. have been injured in three separate avalanches since New Year's Day.
All three incidents occurred Monday, the first in the Steep Creek region near Pemberton, 160 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, where one of two skiers who triggered a backcountry slide suffered head and leg injuries.
Just hours later, RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk says a man skiing on Sunshine Mountain near Bralorne, about 80 kilometres north of Pemberton, was swept into trees by an avalanche that missed his two friends.
About 45 minutes after that, in the same general area, six of eight people on a ski-touring expedition in the Eldorado region were caught in a slide that injured one of the skiers.
In both of the Bralorne-area avalanches, the injured skiers were airlifted to safety and are expected to recover.
Three people have died across B.C. since the avalanche season began, with two deaths occurring last Thursday and Friday as the risk of slides rose dramatically following heavy snow and unseasonably mild temperatures.
