Skier couldn't revive partner

Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, January 09, 2008
 
Backcountry skier Geoff Little was 2,164 metres up Mount St. Piran, a small peak northwest of Lake Louise, when he heard "whumph" echo through the mountainside.
 
He didn't immediately think an avalanche loomed on Monday afternoon, but soon he noticed the snowpack beginning to break not far above him.
 
He yelled at his skiing partner, who, like 39-year-old Little, worked as a cook at R & B's Eatery in Chateau Lake Louise's staff village.

Little then scrambled to a nearby patch of trees, an escape route the pair had identified should trouble surface. He lost sight of his 19-year-old co-worker as a wall of snow tumbled down within a minute, enveloping the pair.
 
Clinging to a large tree, Little was tossed upside down by the impact of the avalanche.
 
When the snow settled, the former Fernie resident pulled himself from the tree and began to search for his fellow skier.
 
"I called his name, but there was no response," Little recalled Tuesday.
 
He dialled for help on his cellphone and then used his avalanche beacon to find his co-worker. The teen, originally from Quebec, had been knocked 91 metres and buried under nearly a metre of snow.