Selkirk Tangiers nears 2nd reading on heli-ski lodge north of Revelstoke<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt is impossible to put into words the sorrow we feel; that sadness is shared by everyone impacted as well as our staff,\u201d Dave Pehowich, STHS general manager, said in the release. \u201cOur guests are like family to us and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the guest who was lost and all involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Revelstoke RCMP Cpl. Adam Phillippe, the detachment wasn\u2019t notified about the incident until after, but the BC Coroners Service has already been notified and is actively engaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will assist the BC Coroners Service with the investigation,\u201d Phillippe told Black Press Media.<\/p>\n
He referred to the victim as male, noting him to be the only individual trapped in the avalanche. Phillippe reported that the skier was successfully extracted from the avalanche site but \u201cultimately succumbed to his injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur thoughts are with the family,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a sad occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
STHS prides itself on a culture of safety, training and protocol, the release mentioned, and thanks the agencies and its own team members who \u201cjumped quickly into action when the avalanche struck\u201d Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Michaela Konken, public relations consultant for Coast Communications, told Black Press Media an email from Pehowich indicated that STHS staff were the sole responders on site.<\/p>\n
She was unable to confirm where in the Selkirks the avalanche occurred. STHS\u2019s heli-ski tenure spans as far east as the Glacier National Park boundary, more than 45 kilometres from Revelstoke.<\/p>\n
But, a fatality incident subsequently appeared on Avalanche Canada\u2019s forecast map Friday afternoon, Feb. 20, describing a Size 2 persistent slab avalanche consistent with the details provided by STHS.<\/p>\n
The incident was placed around the Akolkolex River drainage, about 19 km southeast of Revelstoke and approximately between Mount Cartier and Mount McRae.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t speculate about the forecast or terrain involved in yesterday\u2019s commercial incident,\u201d Karilyn Kempton, communications manager for Avalanche Canada, told Black Press Media by email.<\/p>\n
She said staff in the heli-ski industry are highly skilled at producing their own avalanche forecasts and choosing terrain for guests based on local conditions, and are better suited to speak about guiding and safety practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur guides are experts and undergo extensive training over many years to certify for their roles so they can minimize risks,\u201d Pehowich added. \u201cHowever, avalanches are one of many risks to people in mountains and, similar to many outdoor activities, it\u2019s impossible to eliminate 100 per cent of the risks in the backcountry.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ: Rogers Pass skiers cautioned after splitboarder breaks foot in avalanche<\/a><\/p>\nOwned by Northland Properties, STHS provides guests with helicopter access to more than 400 ski runs in more than 200,000 hectares of backcountry tenure.<\/p>\n
The heli-ski company said it\u2019s currently providing counsellors on site at the Coast Hillcrest Hotel, for any guests or staff needing support. It had also paused all its tour operations for Friday, according to Konken.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot sure what the next couple days look like,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
This is a developing story that Black Press Media will continue to follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Avalanche kills man heli-skiing in Columbia Mountains with B.C. company Published 2:00 pm Friday, February 20, 2026 A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[17358,49,48,428,135647,87674],"class_list":["post-489241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-avalanche","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-death","tag-skiing","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}