3 snowmobilers dead after avalanche in Quebec’s Chic-Choc Mountains

Three Quebec snowmobilers are dead following an avalanche in the Chic-Choc Mountains on the province’s Gaspé Penninsula.

Quebec provincial police received a distress call at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday from a group of snowmobilers in the La Martre sector, near Mont Médaille. An avalanche had taken place and three snowmobilers were missing.

Authorities launched a ground search operation. Firefighters from nearby Sainte-Anne-des-Monts along with ambulance crews were dispatched to support the Sûreté du Québec’s (SQ) avalanche team.

The three snowmobilers, who were in their 30s and from the Eastern Townships, were found around 11 p.m. They were transported to hospital where they were pronounced dead, said SQ spokesman Frédéric Deshaies.

“Investigators as well as forensic technicians are on site to identify the causes and circumstances surrounding this event,” said Deshaies.

Sector received significant snowfall last week: Avalanche Québec

People involved in the rescue will be interviewed to understand what triggered the avalanche, said Dominic Boucher, with Avalanche Québec.

“A lot of factors can come into play, natural factors linked to snow conditions, the significant snowfall over the weekend, and the warming temperatures,” said Boucher.

“[Tuesday], we went from relatively cold temperatures on Monday to warmer ones all day, with temperatures rising up to 5C in the valley.”

He said this is the first case of people being involved and killed in an avalanche at the Gaspé park this year.

Since last Thursday, Boucher says the sector where the accident happened received quite a bit of snow — 30 to 50 centimetres.

Even though that particular sector is not in the area of forecasts covered by the Avalanche Quebec Chic-Chocs bulletin, Boucher says over the weekend they issued a warning that was up until Monday evening.  

“That was up on our website and shared on Facebook [asking people] to be vigilant because there was increased avalanche risk,” said Boucher.

He says this sector is sometimes popular among snowmobilers because it has easy access to the mountains. 

According to Avalanche Québec’s daily bulletin, avalanche risk was considered moderate in alpine areas on Tuesday, with increased danger in certain sectors of the Chic-Chocs.

In these conditions, avalanches can occur in isolated areas or could be triggered by human intervention, according to the website.