QIKIQTARJUAQ/BROUGHTON ISLAND
Pinned down by a qamutik and a load of snow, a French family who has lived in a sailboat off Grise Fiord and Qikiqtarjuaq since 2011 is lucky to be alive after an avalanche buried their campsite during the Victoria Day fishing derby north of Qikiqtarjuaq.

Leonie, France Pinczon du Sel, Aurore and Eric Brossier have injuries but survived an avalanche on the Victoria Day long weekend near Qikiqtarjuaq. - photo courtesy of Eric Brossier/vagabond.fr

Eric Brossier, France Pinczon du Sel and their young daughters, Leonie and Aurore, are recovering from injuries sustained when a blanket of snow powder buried their camp during breakfast May 18.

"I thought I would suffocate under the weight of snow with Leonie on top of me in panic," Pinczon du Sel wrote on the family blog at vagabond.fr on May 22. "Anyway, we just escaped."

She wrote that the avalanche consisted of "ultra fast, powder snow."

"We were having breakfast in the tent when the snow buried us, our sledge was lying partly on top of us," she wrote. "Fortunately people witnessed the accident, some had to run to escape the snow slide. It was a great fear for everybody."

Brossier, who stated in an e-mail that he was unable to find time for an interview, referred Nunavut News/North to the blog. He hinted at the event in a May 18 blog post, noting the family was camped at the base of a mountain near Nedlukseak, about 130 km north of the hamlet.

"The weather is beautiful when we arrived at the lake on Friday night, but deteriorates on Saturday morning," he wrote. "We spend more time inside the tent than out fishing or doing ice measurement in the area. Relaxing time and good mood anyway. Snow is falling incessantly for two days. So much so that it ends up tumbling down the mountain."

Buried by that snow, Brossier managed to get out of the ripped tent, and about 20 community members who were on the trip witnessed the event and worked to help the family.

"Some helping to found our material, other reassuring and warming our traumatized girls, welcoming us all into their warm shelter," Pinczon du Sel wrote.

Brossier is wearing a neck brace to ease pain suffered in an unknown blow, Pinczon du Sel believes her cheekbone may be fractured and her ear was cut. They are more concerned about Leonie, who "has a bruise and a scar that heals slowly on the back of the head," she wrote. Aurore escaped without injury.

The family's shovel and their boots were lost, and the tent was destroyed.

"The shock passed, we understand that it could have been much worse," Pinczon du Sel wrote.

Hamlet finance director Arthur Nicomedes said a second avalanche stopped before reaching the camp and rescuers.

"It's lucky that the second avalanche stopped at the middle," Nicomedes was told. "If not they would all be buried alive."

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