UPDATE: Tumbler Ridge RCMP say a man was killed by an avalanche near the Core Lodge snowmobiling area Sunday.
Police have not yet released the name of the victim.
A coroners service official confirmed a person was killed earlier today, but was not yet sure whether the victim was male or female.
According to a release, three riders out of a seven-person party were swept up in the avalanche.
Two were successfully pulled out and revived, police say.
Another man passed away.
Due to hazardous snow conditions, crews could not retrieve the body until Monday.
North Peace Search and Rescue removed the body by helicopter, police say.
ORIGINAL: An avalanche near Tumbler Ridge claimed a life Sunday, the BC Coroners Service has confirmed.
"We can confirm we have a fatality, we don't really know much more," said Barbara McLintock of the Coroners Service.
According to early reports, the victim was snowmobiling with a group of around a half dozen people.
"One of them was in the worst part [of the avalanche,]" McLintock said.
She said that a local coroner was on the way to the scene.
The coroner was not aware whether the victim was male or female, where the avalanche happened or whether a body has been recovered.
Ryan Shelly, owner of Grande Prairie-based Summit Avalanche Consulting, said he was near Tumbler Ridge on Sunday teaching another group avalanche safety.
He said he saw first responders and escorted them to the scene, near Terminator Peak in the Core Lodge snowmobiling area.
Two people were swept up in the avalanche, Shelly said.
"The remaining riders were able to pull the first snowmobiler out of the snow," he said. "He came out purple, was unconscious and unresponsive. He managed to come to."
"The second person, it was unfortunately too late. They did CPR for over an hour," he said. "They weren't able to bring him back."
He said warm weather has made snow conditions particularly treacherous, with three to four feet of hard packed snow sitting on dry powder from the fall — "ball bearings, essentially."
Shelly said that with current conditions, he would advise anyone without avalanche safety training not to snowmobile on slopes.
Multiple snowmobilers on a slope at once "drives the risk right through the roof," he added.
While she was not completely certain, McLintock said this was likely the first avalanche death this winter in B.C.
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