VICTORIA --
A 19-year-old snowboarder has been transported to hospital Thursday after spending the night out in the elements on Mount Washington following a tumble in an avalanche.
"From his description I would say that it was probably almost a size-two avalanche which is big enough to injure, bury or kill a person," said Comox Valley Search and Rescue member Cliff Umpleby.
Umpleby and fellow team member Troy Fogarty were onboard an RCMP helicopter looking for the snowboarder who was last seen Wednesday afternoon at the ski resort.
"We managed to follow his tracks up the valley. It looks like he had been caught in a small avalanche during the evening and kind of got rolled in that and had wandered around for awhile," Umpleby told CTV News.