EDMONTON — A small central Alberta community is grieving the loss of three men -including a father and son -who died in an avalanche while they were snowmobiling near Golden, B.C.

The men -Andy Gebhardt and his son, Jarrett Gebhardt, and Norbert Mueller, 49 -died Saturday after a wall of snow thundered down on them on Mount Gerald in the B.C. backcountry.

The avalanche was rated in size as 3.5 on a scale of five.

Mueller's son, Travis Mueller, was also on the mountain when the slide struck, family members said. He was rescued by snowmobilers who witnessed the incident and was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The deaths stunned the rural community near Donalda, 160 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, where the men lived, and left their families grief-stricken.

"It is devastating," said Mike Mueller, Norbert's brother, who described his brother as an "outgoing and generous" man who was "full of life."

Some of the family travelled to Golden on Sunday to wait for the bodies to be recovered, he said.

Mike Mueller said his brother is survived by a wife and two sons.

"It's a huge tragedy for the whole community. They touched a lot of people," said Terry Nordahl, the former mayor of Donalda, a community of about 300 people. "They're going to be missed by lots of people."

The men were all experienced riders who understood the risks associated with snowmobiling in the backcountry, family members said.

Witnesses said the slide happened around 5 p.m. Saturday when two snowmobilers were high-marking up a the slope in the Hope River area as two others watched from below, said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

The slide crashed down on all four men. Several other snowmobilers witnessed the avalanche. As many as 20 people converged on the scene and dug out the buried snowmobilers, according to RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

One man from the first party was resuscitated; efforts to revive the other three weren't successful.

A GPS emergency beacon alerted Golden RCMP to the emergency.

Mounties immediately called in Golden and District Search and Rescue and made radio contact with members of the Golden Back Country Lodge, who were on scene and able to pass on details, Moskaluk said.

All four buried men were wearing transceivers, which helped rescuers find them immediately following the slide, he said.

It's not clear who activated the GPS device that alerted RCMP to the developing emergency, Moskaluk added.

Golden RCMP and search and rescue teams returned to the backcountry early Sunday in a helicopter to recover the bodies.

"They assessed the area and deemed it safe for them to land. They were able to land at the slide site and conduct the recovery immediately," Moskaluk said.

The avalanche was classified as a size 3.5 -large enough to bury a car or damage a wood-frame house.

Tom Riley, a public avalanche bulletin forecaster with the Canadian Avalanche Centre, noted that Saturday's slide occurred in an area on the west slope of the Rockies not covered by the centre's bulletins.

This season has been particularly bad for avalanches and it's important for backcountry adventurers to carry three essential pieces of gear -a beacon, a probe and a shovel -and have proper training when venturing out, noted Riley.

Moskaluk said Saturday's avalanche is a sobering reminder of the potential dangers of outdoor winter adventures.

Highmarking involves climbing high and fast up a mountain with a snowmobile. When done in avalanche terrain, "essentially people are playing Russian roulette with the slope of the hill," Moskaluk said.

"These machines ascend, they're cutting into the snow surfaces, in many instances, destabilizing sheets of snow that are causing these massive slides."

Family members of the avalanche victims say their loved ones were experienced riders.

Norbert had worked for most of his life in the oilpatch, his brother said, but recently changed jobs to work in a coal mine closer to his home.

The family lives on a farm, which kept Norbert busy during the summers. The family would spend their winters snowmobiling, an activity they looked forward to every year.

"They're not rookies out there by any means," Mueller said. "It's rough. Every time you go out there it's an avalanche risk."

mibrahim@edmontonjournal.com

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