A Blind Bay man died at the scene of a snowmobiling accident that occurred Friday near Sicamous.
The BC Coroners Service stated on Monday that David Mark Yule, 49, was killed on Friday, Jan. 9, after the snowmobile he was on went over a steep cliff.
The incident occurred in the backcountry of the Owlhead snowmobiling area.
Police, the BC Ambulance Service and search and rescue crews from Vernon and the Shuswap were called to the accident scene at approximately 12:30 p.m. Sicamous RCMP Cpl. J.R. Lechky reports that upon arrival, authorities learned the 49-year-old had mistakenly driven his sled off a cliff, estimated to be 40 feet high.
Paramedics with BC Ambulance Service’s helicopter service and the Vernon search team arrived within an hour, said Lechky, but were unable to resuscitate Yule, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gord Bushell, general manager of the Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club, said he and the sledding community are upset by the incident and expressed their condolences to Yule’s family and friends. Bushell called the incident an unfortunate accident, and said Yule had been well-prepared to sled the backcountry.
“He was off on an un-groomed trail, he was in the backcountry and he wasn’t doing anything stupid,” said Bushell. “It was just an incident where he was coming down the hill and he ended up going over a cliff and wasn’t able to get away from the sled.”