Snowboarder Dies In B.C.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - A snowboard instructor is dead after entering a permanently closed area on the Cypress Mountain ski hill.

Nigel Miller, 25, a Cypress instructor for eight years, was reported missing by his sister at 6:15 p.m. Thursday after he failed to meet her at a parking lot as planned.

Searchers followed snowboard tracks into a closed area, and they found his body buried under nearly 5 feet of snow in a steep creek basin around 7:30 p.m.

The man fell into a section of the hill where skiers have died before, and investigators think an avalanche had occurred in the area.

Police estimated Miller may have been there as long as five hours before the search party arrived.

The cause of the avalanche has not been determined.