Quebec skiing couple lost in BC.

so the story goes that this couple from Quebec decided to go on a romantic ski vacation in BC. V day they decide to leave, go off trail back country skiiing and tell no one of any plans or such.
Of course they get lost... and dont know what to do...she ends up dieing before they are found.

Yes they left several SOS signs in the snow and such... apparently no one could actually find a record of missing people so no search was launched.

Now people are blaming the RCMP.

Do you blame the RCMP? Me, I dont, seriously they on purpose go back country skiiing without telling anyone and without being from the area... and they somehow expect that the RCMP magically know they are missing and need to be rescued?

Whatever..... all thier fault I say.

What if they weren't from Quebec?

This sounds like The Perfect Storm. If anything could go wrong it did.
The Lodge, the Mounties and a few individuals...all did the Big Oops!

The RCMP are accepting blame. Dumb asses.They should accept blame for the death of Polish guy and deny blame in this case.

FlyingRat wrote:What if they weren't from Quebec?

Then they would have probably known enough to head the warnings about not going skiiing backcountry, to always let someone know where you are going and when you will be back?

dunno... maybe it was a language barrier thing, but I kind of doubt it.

its tragic, but a good example of natural selection.
hopefully people who hear about this can learn from it and how a little common sense would have gone a long ways.

i dont think the RCMP should be blamed either, but i respect their decision to accept it, after all, i bet the guy who made the call not to start searching feels like sh1t right now.

They accidently went off the ski trail by mistake, this was nothing intentional or them going exploring on their own. This is a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.

When I read it the guys story was that they intenionally went off the trails.

Yes it is sad but it go's to show tell people where you are going and you are right the cop is not to blame even though , feel bad for him . Learned along time ago never go into the bush or wherever with out people knowing where and when you will be back .

yeah its lesson number one in all the survival and back country training I have taken. ALWAYS lesson number 1.
Lesson number 2. once you realize you are lost... Stop moving around.

BINGO

This is a tragedy. Even though they went off the trail, even though they did not tell anyone where they were going, they did check out of the hotel so were not bound to tell anyone. When the first SOS sign was seen and reported to the RCMP, the question right there is why did they not follow up on this SOS report? That is where the responsibility lies. This couple left the hotel on Feb 15th and the RCMP did not go out searching for them until 3 days after the first report of the SOS sign was called in. It was only after the second SOS sign was seen along with a man moving around on the mountain close to the sign. And the reason the husband gave for not staying in one place was so they could keep warm as they were not dressed for overnight weather conditions and also to keep moving so the wolves would not get them.
In this case the RCMP are at fault for not responding sooner to a report of an SOS. The husband does accept some responsibility for taking her into the back country but she would still be alive if the RCMP would have started the search on the first report.

Deank wrote:When I read it the guys story was that they intenionally went off the trails.

I was going by the CTV news report I heard, I could be wrong but I/m almost certain they said it was unintentional, and by the time they realized they were off the beaten path it was too late. At one point they were within 1 km of the lodge on top of the mountain.

But if no one was reported missing, why would the Mounties be following up on an SOS? They weren't looking for anyone because they didn't know anyone was missing. Its a tragic ending, but where does personal responsibility come in?

They did not investigate the SOS which they should have?
They never thought that anyone could be missing because there was no report and no auto left in any parking lot. No one thought out all the possibilities, did they?

True and the person will be haunted for life iam sure.

Everyone can "what if" this situation to death. This couple did not tell anyone where they were going, so no one thought to look for them. Tragic yes, culpability no.

exactly

the RCMP did follow up on the report.

they phoned around, and found out that no one was missing. why start a search if you have no one to look for?

Was the SOS in French?

Mais, Oui.

HOLY frick!

The guy lived in Alberta and BC and has gone skiing there several times before.. was well versed in survival skills!

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/sos_survivor_has_one_regret-40702857.html

And yet, his only regret is not having matches. AND HE BLAMES THE RCMP!

Sure is starting to sound to me like something sinister happened here. I think someone needs to start asking some different questions.

Like...
Why did you not dress properly?
Why did you go off trail?
Why did you not tell anyone where you were going?
Why did you ignore all your well versed survival skills?
Why did you not have matches or a lighter?
Were you and your wife having any marital difficulties?
Do you have a life insurance policy?
Does it pay out double on accidental death?

conspiracy!

grumpy old man wrote:Was the SOS in French?

...perhaps a spelling error?

FlyingRat wrote:conspiracy!

Its only a conspiracy if it involves more then one person covering up the truth. Everything lays in this mans hands. Everything.