Cornice collapse tragedy claims 5 lives

11 Apr 2017 21:56 #71352 by intrepid
Some sad and sobering news of an incident which happened over the weekend in British Columbia, just a ferry-ride from where I live. Five hikers died from a 500m fall off a peak called Mount Harvey, as a cornice collapsed under them. Its big news around here and I see it even made it into the South African media:
www.iol.co.za/news/world/5-hikers-die-after-fall-in-canadian-mountains-8580362
www.news24.com/World/News/canada-snow-slide-kills-five-20170410

The above articles refer to a "snow ledge" that collapsed, but this is misleading. It was a cornice. Indications are that they were aware of the cornice and did walk away from it a bit, but that they underestimated its size. They were buried under the resulting avalanche but reports say it was the fall that killed them. They were not wearing avalanche beacons and it took a big Search and Rescue effort to find all of them. A detailed article can be read here:
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lions-bay-search-resumes-hikers-found-and-recovered-1.4062976

Cornices are common around here due to the high winds and sticky snow. We saw several on our own outing on Sunday. April is a common month for them to collapse.

Condolences to the families of the victims.

Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.

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12 Apr 2017 10:27 #71357 by Coeta
This picture taken from one of the above articles graphically explains what a cornice is.
I can see how the point of view from a hiker could result in underestimating the margins of safety.

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