Body of avalanche victim recovered

The body of a 31-year-old Fort St. John man killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling in the Pine Pass area earlier this year has been recovered.

North District RCMP said the discovery was made on Thursday during a flyover of the area where the man's snowmobile had been found during the initial search in early February.

What appeared to be an article of clothing was spotted and RCMP from the Chetwynd detachment were taken to the scene where the body was found.

The man, whose name had not been released, had been snowmobiling with a group in an area south of Pine Le Moray Provincial Park when, on Feb. 2, RCMP were notified by the International Emergency Response Coordination Centre of an emergency beacon signal on the east face of the Murray Mountain range, between Mount Hunter and Milburn Peak.

North Peace Search and Rescue volunteers were called in to help, but weather conditions and the risk of additional avalanches prevented crews from getting into the area to conduct a ground search.

"The man had been covered in deep snow, and the warmer weather and melting conditions, allowed us to find him," said Chetwynd RCMP Sgt. Jo Anne Ruppenthal.