Big White Ski Resort Avalanche
Yesterday, at approximately 11:00 am, members of the Kelowna RCMP rural detail were dispatched to an incident at the Big White Ski Resort. They were informed that an avalanche had occurred in the Parachute Bowl. The RCMP immediately began working with the Big White Ski Patrol in their search efforts.
Originally 6 people were believed to be involved in the slide, however they have all since been accounted for. Police then received a report of a missing 21-year-old snowboarder. He was last seen approximately one half hour before the slide, and it is unknown for certain if he was involved in the avalanche. He has still not been located at this point, and subsequently the search of the slide area continues today. The RCMP helicopter, two Police dogs, Big White Ski Patrol, and local Search and Rescue personnel will be on site this morning to continue with search efforts.
Due to the fact the this is a missing person’s investigation at this point in time, and there is no way to confirm that the missing man was in the avalanche area, we are releasing his name to the public. 21-year-old Leigh BARNIER of Australia is an employee of a private company up at the Big White Ski Resort. He was last seen around 10:30 am by his friends up on the ski hill. He advised his friends that he was going to do “one more run”, however it was unclear where he was headed with his snowboard. He is described as 5"10 with short brown hair, wearing a dark blue ski jacket with red and white on the arms and dark grey and black ski pants. If anyone has seen someone matching this description or did so at the time of the avalanche, they are asked to contact the Kelowna Rural RCMP at (250) 768-2880.
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