Do you know what happened in the mountains this week? Here’s a selection of backcountry news, articles, posts, videos, photos, and other cool things that we think you’d like to know about. Enjoy!
- Avalanche Kills Backcountry Skier In Bernese Oberland Of Switzerland – A Mountain Journey – A backcountry ski tourer triggered a deadly slab avalanche near Iffigenalp in the Swiss Alps.

- Avalanche Kills Lead Ski Guide At Cat Ski Mt. Bailey In Oregon – A Mountain Journey – A tragic avalanche took the life of legendary ski guide Rick Oswald in Oregon during avalanche control work.
- Solo Snowshoer Triggers Deadly Avalanche In Kananaskis Country, Canada – A Mountain Journey – A snowshoer triggered a deadly size 3 avalanche in Kananaskis Country, Canada.
- Shane McConkey: 7 Years Gone But Still Inspiring – SnowBrains.com – McConkey passed away 7 years ago this week. What a cool guy.
- One Dead After Avalanche Strikes Near Indian Army Outpost At 17,500′ – A Mountain Journey – An avalanche hit two Indian soldiers in Kashmir, only one survived.
- Nine Feared Dead In Pakistan Avalanche – A Mountain Journey – An avalanche in northwest Pakistan buried up to nine people including a man and eight school children.
- Two Indian Soldiers Killed In Avalanche On Siachen Glacier In Kashmir – A Mountain Journey – Another avalanche on the world’s highest battlefield claimed the life of two Indian soldiers this week.
- Watch Snowmobiler Survives Avalanche After Sliding 2500 Ft. – UnofficialNetworks.com – Here’s some crazy POV avalanche footage from Canada. This guy is lucky.
- Avalanche Kills Four In Badakhshan, Afghanistan – A Mountain Journey – Four people were killed in an avalanche near the Tajikistan/Afghanistan border.
- A Mountain Journey – Watch The Winning Runs From The Freeride World Tour 2016 in Haines, Alaska – Another #FWT event in Haines Alaska showcased some sweet big mountain skiing.
- Avalanche Hoax Nearly Ends in Death – GrindTv.com – Some pranksters in Montana told their friends that they were stuck in an avalanche, when their friend rapidly responded to save the day he crashed his sled and almost died. That’s messed up.
- Skier Caught In Avalanche Survives, Records Experience – Denver.CBSLocal.com – A skier near Vail triggered a size 2 avalanche and caught it all on film.
- Mountain Skills: Knowing When To Turn Around – Backcountry Magazine – Here’s a great article by Donny Roth about when to turn around in the backcountry. Read this.
- VIDEO: Could Beacon Searching Drones Be The Answer To Avalanche First Responders – UnofficialNetworks.com – Drones have many applications and avalanche rescue could be one of them.
- Ben Nevis Climbers Killed By Massive Avalanche – Telegraph.co.uk – Rachel Slater and Tim Newton went missing five weeks go while climbing Ben Nevis. The pair was found on Wednesday and it appears they were killed by an avalanche.
- Molson Coors Pulls Ad After Backlash From Search and Rescue Groups – CTVNews.ca – Did you see the Coors Light ad highlighting skiers going out of bounds without avalanche gear? It caused a ruckus and Coors pulled the ad.
- Avalanche Canada: “Special Public Avalanche Warning in B.C. This Easter Weekend” – SnowBrains.com – It’s Easter Weekend and Avalanche Canada issued a special Avalanche Warning for Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, Jasper, Kananaskis Country, Purcells, and North Rockies. The warning goes from March 25 to March 28. Be Safe.
What backcountry news did we miss? Tell us in the comments below. Have an awesome week!