A Bow Valley resident in his 20s is the first avalanche fatality of the season following a Class 1 slide near Lake Louise on Mount Victoria on Sunday (Sept. 25). Parks Canada confirmed Monday afternoon (Sept.
A Bow Valley resident in his 20s is the first avalanche fatality of the season following a Class 1 slide near Lake Louise on Mount Victoria on Sunday (Sept. 25).
Parks Canada confirmed Monday afternoon (Sept. 26) that visitor safety specialists responded to an avalanche involving a skier at 10 a.m. Sunday morning.
The skier killed in the avalanche was part of a group of two that set out in the morning to ascend Mount Victoria. They decided to turn back mid-way through their ascent due to strong winds and poor conditions. According to visitor safety technician Tim Haggarty, conditions played a role in the avalanche with gusting winds changing the snowpack on the steep slope the skiers were descending. The second skier able to reach the viewpoint above the Plain of Six Glaciers trail and call for help.
"It was a fairly small avalanche," Haggarty said. "It was not witnessed, but from what we can see, we would expect it was triggered by the first person descending and that was the victim.
"It occurred on a steep slope that was fairly firm underneath and the avalanche would have given enough push for the skier to be sliding very quickly down the steep slope."
Haggarty said the avalanche pushed the male skier in his early 20s over a 300 metre high cliff and the second skier was able to reach him before traveling to the viewpoint trail above the Plain of Six Glaciers tea house to call for help.
He said it is not necessarily early in the season for avalanche activity in general, but it is a bit early for a slab avalanche like this one, which was around a class one measuring two to 30 metres wide.
Parks Canada's avalanche bulletin page for Banff, Yoho and Kootenay was last updated on June 26 for summer mountain conditions.
