Snowmobiler dies after being caught in Okanagan avalanche

UPDATE: Avalanche victim identified as AJ Cleary, of Coldsteam, B.C., and Newfoundland

A 34-year-old North Okanagan, B.C., man has died after being caught in an avalanche while snowmobiling in an area roughly 50 kilometres east ofVernon.

Mounties with the Lumby detachment, along with Vernon Search and Rescue personnel, were dispatched to the avalanche site nearKeefer Lake Resort Saturday afternoon.

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Gordon Molendyk, of the Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP detachment, says emergency services people at the resort helped pull the man out.

He said the victim, whose name hasn't been released, was treated by ambulance personnel and then airlifted to Kelowna General Hospital where he was initially listed in serious condition.

Molendyktold CBC News Sunday that the man died in hospital Saturday night.

RCMP are still investigating.

Google map: Keefer Lake Resort