Three people died and four were critically injured in British Columbia on Monday, January 22, when a helicopter carrying backcountry skiers crashed. The accident occurred around 4:00 P.M. about 18.5 miles north of Terrace. Along with the pilot, the helicopter contained one guide and five guests of . Based on reporting by , it appears that two of the deceased were guests. The identity and status of the pilot and guide have not been made public.
Northern Escape Heli-Skiing held a news conference in Terrace at 3:00 P.M. on Tuesday, January 23, but did not release the names of the victims, as next-of-kin are still being notified. Northern Escape Heli-Skiing president John Forrest confirmed that the four injured skiers were brought to Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace. At the time of the news conference, all four had been transported to other facilities in British Columbia for higher levels of care. Two of the patients are in critical condition and two are in serious condition.
“The guests who ski with us and the staff who work with us each season are part of our family,” Forrest said. “It is impossible to put into words the profound grief that we feel and the sorrow that our guests and our staff share.”
reported that the Italian media has shared information from the families of the five clients, all who are well-known in their country. The deceased are Heiner Junior Oberrauch, 29, and Andreas Widmann, 35. The injured are Jakob Oberrauch, 34; Johannes Peer, 34; and Emilio Zierock, 35. The Oberrauch brothers are the sons of Georg Oberrauch, the founder of , an iconic Italian sports retailer. Peer is an executive at Sportler. Widmann’s family owns , a sportswear textile company, and Zierock helps run his family’s in the Dolomite Mountains.
The cause of the accident remains unclear. Northern Escape Heli-Skiing is working with the RCMP, Transport Safety Board, WorkSafeBC, and other authorities to investigate.
According to , a freezing rain warning was in effect for Terrace, the closest population center to the crash, on January 22. Temperatures hovered right around 32 degrees Farenheit, with moderate to strong winds from the north at 18 miles per hour, gusting to 30 miles per hour. Forrest stated at the press conference that when the accident occurred, scheduled communications were happening according to Northern Escape Heli-Skiing’s protocols. They found out about the accident “during the time between scheduled calls” via a radio communication from a guest involved in the crash. He said that Northern Escape Heli-Skiing immediately activated its emergency protocols, including ceasing all skiing activities and deploying search and rescue.
Two other helicopters operating in the area, including one containing backcountry skiers employed by Unbound Gear & Apparel, a local sporting goods store, joined in the rescue effort, along with Northern Escape Heli-Skiing’s team of guides. Abby Cooper, a backcountry skier who was aboard one of them, contacted ϳԹ about witnessing the response. “I cannot express how quickly and professionally NE acted in the situation,” she wrote. “They have an amazing team and operation—sincerely the best crew in the industry—and couldn’t have done anything faster or better.” A neighboring operation, , assisted in evacuating Northern Escape Heli-Skiing’s other guests and staff from across its three backcountry ski lodges.
“We are working towards resuming operations, but we don’t know when this will be,” Forrest said. “Right now, our focus is on supporting those who have been impacted by this accident.
British Columbia is the birthplace of heli-skiing, and Northern Escape Heli-Skiing is one of the province’s premier operators, offering small-group trips based out of luxurious backcountry lodges. It was founded by a group of four friends, including Forrest, in 2004. The company prides itself on being one of the first operators to offer carbon neutral heli-skiing, and one of the first to use the Agusta Koala helicopter, considered one of the highest-performance machines in the industry. “Our Agusta Koala helicopters are like Ferraris for the mountains,” reads the Northern Escape Heli-Skiing website. “The performance, safety and landing capabilities of this machine exceed any other helicopter in the business.”
, the sport’s trade association, issued a statement expressing sadness and condolences, and acknowledging the inherent risks in heli-skiing. “Although we know there are risks to activities like heli and snow cat skiing, as there are risks to many activities that we love and enjoy in the backcountry, and, in fact, almost everywhere, it does not decrease our sadness and sense of loss…It’s impossible to eliminate 100 percent of the risk, but our industry does it’s best to mitigate it with our world-class knowledge and expertise.”
Locals in Terrace, a remote mountain community full of snow sports enthusiasts, are reeling from the news. The employees of Unbound Gear & Apparel who were with Cooper aboard one of the helicopters that assisted in the rescue declined to comment for this story. “There’s some pretty heavy hearts,” said store manager Ryan Sergerie. Meanwhile, Terrace’s SAR manager Dave Jephson let ϳԹ know that efforts were underway on January 24 to get back on the mountain and recover the bodies.