Marie-Josée Fortin, left, and Gilles Blackburn, right, are shown in this family photo with their son William Blackburn, middle, and their daughter, Laurence Blackburn, second right, and their son's girlfriend, Amélie Jeanneau, second left. (Family photo)

A Quebec man whose wife died after the couple became lost in the mountains near a B.C. ski resort for 10 days is now suing organizations that he alleges decided not to launch a search for him.

In a statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Gilles Blackburn, 51, alleges the RCMP failed to initiate a ground search soon enough after the couple became lost.

His wife, Marie-Josée Fortin, 44, died of severe hypothermia about seven days after the couple skied out of bounds while at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in February.

Blackburn claims in the lawsuit that he suffers serious physical and psychological injuries due to the alleged negligence.

The claim alleges the Mounties knew, or should have known, someone was lost after SOS signs stamped in the snow by the couple were spotted at least twice by a heli-ski pilot and reported to authorities by the company.

In court documents, Blackburn also accuses the Golden District Search and Rescue Association as well as the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort of negligence for not initiating a search after the signals were reported. The suit also names the attorney general of B.C. and other defendants.

When the SOS signs were first spotted, the search and rescue team later said they did check with the resort to see if any guests were overdue or reported missing, but finding no evidence of missing persons, they decided not to send a team into the area and did not notify the RCMP.

When the SOS signals were first reported to the RCMP a few days later, officers said they checked with the search and rescue team, who told them the signs had already been investigated.

Blackburn was finally rescued after a group of returning heli-skiers once again reported seeing the SOS signals a third time and a rescue was finally launched by the RCMP.

The RCMP later admitted publicly that they made a mistake by not launching a search when they were first notified that SOS signs had been spotted in the snow. The force said it was conducting an internal review of the incident.

In an interview with CBC News after the rescue, Blackburn said it was his fault the couple made the decision to ski out of bounds, but he blamed the RCMP and other rescue agencies for the fact the ordeal went on so long.

The Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is located in the Purcell Mountains near Golden, B.C.