B.C. avalanches kill four skiers in deadly backcountry weekend

KITIMAT – Police say three heli-skiers were killed on Sunday when they were caught in an avalanche north of Terrace, B.C., on a deadly day in the province’s backcountry that also claimed the life of another skier in a separate slide near the Alaska border.

RCMP say the avalanche near Terrace happened on Mount Knauss on the Iridium Shoulder ski run at around 1:28 p.m., when police received a report of four heli-skiers being struck.

Emergency responders arrived at a local lodge where one survivor with serious injuries was airlifted to hospital, while the bodies of three others who died in the avalanche were recovered from the mountain.

Officials had earlier warned of dangerous conditions created by last week’s heavy precipitation and warm temperatures brought on by an atmospheric river.

Hours after the Mount Knauss avalanche, a slide in a remote area near the Alaska border killed another person, police in the northwestern B.C. community of Atlin confirmed.

RCMP say the avalanche there happened at about 3:26 p.m., when police received an SOS alert from a GPS device from a location about 500 kilometres from Atlin, in the area of Klehini River and Pleasant Camp near the U.S. border.

A rescue helicopter was dispatched to the site, where four people were found uninjured along with the victim who had died, and all were extracted.

Avalanche Canada says a group of five was ski touring in the area, and the incident was set off by the fourth skier in the group as they descended the slope.

It said one skier who was fully buried about 1.5 metres deep didn’t survive, while another was partially buried and sustained minor injuries.  

Police in both Terrace and Atlin say the BC Coroners Service has been notified and investigations into the deaths are ongoing.

The deaths prompted Avalanche Canada to send out fresh warnings to skiers on Monday, saying the winter conditions are still in force for the northwestern part of B.C. and the Yukon.

“Wind slabs have the potential to step down to buried layers and become large, dangerous avalanches. It’s time to choose simple, low-angled terrain if you’re recreating in those areas,” it said. 

Over the weekend, Avalanche Canada had cautioned there were considerable slide risks in B.C. mountains including those around Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton as well as those along B.C.’s boundary with Alberta.

Warning levels were raised to extreme in some B.C. areas late last week amid heavy precipitation and warm temperature. Avalanche Canada warned that a layer of weak ice buried beneath the snow had been created by the weather conditions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2026.