On a clear, cold morning in January 1998, in the Selkirk Mountains of southeastern British Columbia, a massive avalanche buried six experienced back-country skiers. They didn’t have a chance. Thus began the worst day for avalanche deaths in Canadian history and one of the most tragic in North America.

This book is the biography of a deadly avalanche, detailing how a combination of factors—steep, open terrain, an unstable winter snow pack primed to slide, aggravating weather conditions, and a trigger provided by a handful of back-country skiers—resulted in human tragedy. It is the story of a particular avalanche, but it illustrates a natural phenomenon that has threatened human endeavours throughout the world since people first ventured within the reach of steep snow slopes.