CANADIAN AVALANCHE BULLETIN JANUARY 8, 1996 AVALANCHES: The avalanche accident in Stagleap Park last Thursday was widely reported. It resulted in the death of a 26year old man. This occurred on a small, repeat small slope. Do not underestimate the potential for avalanches that run only 30 vertical metres to bury a person. Since then numerous avalanches have occurred, up to size 3 with explosives control and smaller natural avalanches. DANGER: CONSIDERABLE at all elevations. -------------------------------------------------------- From: Bruce Bowler SNOWBOARDER DIES IN AVALANCHE SALMO, British Columbia - A snowboarder buried in a back-country avalanche in the Kootenays was trying to leave the mountain when the snow gave way and killed him, a Highways official said. Jeff Evans, 26, and a friend were caught in a tumbling wall of snow Thursday as Evans traversed a slope heavy with recent snowfall, said John Tweedy, an avalanche technician with the British Columbia Highways Department. Tweedy said Evans, who lived in nearby Rossland, was snowboarding with three friends in Stagleap Provincial Park when he started feeling ill at about noon. Wearing snowshoes and carrying his board, Evans was headed to a parking area when he triggered a small but deadly avalanche on a slope about 300 yards long, Tweedy said. He was found about 45 minutes later after one of his friends spotted his arm sticking out of the snow. They tried to resuscitate him, but to no avail. The other buried friend survived. Tweedy said it's the park's first fatal avalanche since it was established in 1963, but he fears the growing popularity of the park among back-country skiers will lead to more accidents. The Highways Department doesn't have the staff or means to monitor back-country avalanche conditions the way national parks do, he said. Daily News wire reports