Joël Crête,Nicolas Vanasse Obituary, Three snow bikers have lost their lives after an avalanche in the Chic-Choc Mountains of Quebec.

Joël Crête,Nicolas Vanasse Obituary – Three individuals from Quebec have tragically lost their lives in an avalanche that occurred in the Chic-Choc Mountains on the Gaspé Peninsula. The Quebec provincial police received a distress call on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. from a snow bike rider in the La Martre sector near Mont Médaille. The caller reported that three other people were missing as a result of the avalanche.

The group of four individuals were riding snow bikes, which are essentially dirt bikes equipped with a ski for the front wheel and a caterpillar tread at the back. In response to the distress call, authorities initiated a ground search operation. Firefighters from the nearby town of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, along with ambulance crews, were dispatched to assist the avalanche team of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

At approximately 11 p.m., the three snow bikers were located. They were immediately transported to the hospital, where they were unfortunately pronounced dead, according to SQ spokesman Frédéric Deshaies. The coroner’s office has identified the deceased individuals as Joël Crête, 35 years old, from Coaticook, Nicolas Vanasse, 30 years old, also from Coaticook, and Bryan Forgues Morissette, 33 years old, from Saint-Denis-de-Brompton.

Jack Verrecchia, the owner of the Sled Den, a facility that provides snowmobile lessons and guides in the Chic-Choc Mountains, learned about the incident on Tuesday evening. Verrecchia and his team decided to offer their assistance, but upon arrival, they realized that there was no chance of saving anyone.

By the time all the rescue crews arrived at the scene and began the recovery operation, more than three hours had passed, according to Verrecchia. He expressed that they were severely understaffed for the task at hand. Verrecchia believes that the snow bikers may not have had the necessary experience to venture into that particular area of the mountain.

Interestingly, one member of the group managed to avoid the avalanche as he had positioned himself to the side, filming the others. Verrecchia explained that one individual was traversing the very top of the mountain, while the other two were situated in the avalanche zone below him. When the avalanche occurred, the person on top slid down and collided with the two individuals below. Verrecchia emphasized that he does not permit inexperienced riders to access that part of the mountain.