Police find no evidence that skiers triggered deadly avalanche

CALGARY, Alberta -- Police said Wednesday that they found no evidence that skiers triggered an avalanche earlier this week that killed seven people, including four Americans.

"There's nothing for us to believe that it's anything other than just an accident," Sgt. Randy Brown of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said at a news conference.

The snow slide Monday near Durrand Glacier in the Selkirk Range of eastern British Columbia hit some members of a group of 21, suffocating seven of them in up to 15 feet of concrete-like snow.

The adventurers had divided into two groups, and one was above where part of the avalanche began.

A survivor described hearing a loud crack, followed by a 100-foot-wide wall of snow.

The Americans killed were snowboard pioneer Craig Kelly, 36, who lived in Nelson, British Columbia; Vernon Lunsford, 49, of Littleton, Colo.; Dennis Yates, 50, of Los Angeles; and Kathleen Kessler, 39, of Truckee, Calif.

Three others were from Canada, including Naomi Heffler, 25, of Calgary and Dave Finnery, 30, of New Westminster, British Columbia, and Jean Luc Schwendener of Canmore, Alberta.

Survivors helped each other dig out and located the dead, with rescuers arriving by helicopter within 35 minutes.

All the deaths were caused by suffocation, said Chuck Purse, the British Columbia coroner. He said none of the victims suffered traumatic injuries.