3 snowbikers dead after avalanche in Quebec's Chic-Choc Mountains
CBC
Three Quebecers 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 person who was on a snowbike in the La Martre sector, near Mont Médaille. An avalanche had taken place and they reported that three other people were missing.
The group of four was riding snowbikes — essentially dirt bikes with a ski for a front wheel and a caterpillar tread in the back.
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 snow bikers were found around 11 p.m. They were transported to hospital where they were pronounced dead, said SQ spokesman Frédéric Deshaies.
The men who died have been identified by the coroner's office as 35-year-old Joël Crête from Coaticook, 30-year-old Nicolas Vanasse from Coaticook and 33-year-old Bryan Forgues Morissette, from Saint-Denis-de-Brompton.
Jack Verrecchia, the owner of the Sled Den which offers lessons and guides in the Chic-Choc Mountains, heard about the incident Tuesday evening.
"We decided to go out there and see if we could give a hand," said Verrecchia. "By the time we got there we knew for sure there wasn't going to be any saving."
By the time all the crews got to the site and started the recovery, he says it had been well over three hours.
"We had nowhere near enough guys to do what we had to do," said Verrecchia.
He says the men who were out on their snow bikes likely didn't have the experience to be on that part of the mountain.
The one person in the group who managed to avoid the avalanche, had been off to the side, filming, said Verrecchia.
"One guy was going across the very top and there were two guys down in the avalanche zone," said Verrecchia.
"When it let go, that guy slid down and went right into the other two guys that were just below him."
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