Avalanche conditions remain deadly in the mountains almost a week after a large slide buried and killed two people snowshoeing near Lake Louise.
The deceased, a man and a woman visiting from Spain, were part of a group of five snowshoers who triggered an avalanche about 3 p.m. on Saturday (March 8) on Lake Agnes, a small lake about 6.5 km from the Lake Louise shoreline.
Two people were partially buried up to their waists and managed to dig themselves out with their hands. They then heard the cries of another friend completely buried beneath the snow and frantically worked to get him out, too.
The two remaining snowshoers in the group were completely buried beneath 1.5 metres of snow and debris and did not survive. No one in the group had avalanche equipment, including beacons.
“It has been an awful, awful event. It’s just so tragic and our condolences go out to the survivors and all the family members,” said Lisa Paulson, one of the rescuers with Parks Canada.
The avalanche hazard was rated high in the alpine, high at treeline and considerable below treeline at the time of the incident. The avalanche conditions remain dangerous throughout the mountains in B.C. and Alberta.
With the avalanche risk so great, Parks Canada was forced to close Highway 93 South through Kootenay National Park for more than 40 hours Saturday (March 8), so they could bring down avalanches with explosives in a controlled setting.
In addition, two different skiing groups were lucky to escape with their lives after triggering large avalanches near Lake Louise Monday – a skier triggered a size 3 slide in West Bowl and a party of four skiers triggered one of the biggest avalanches in recent memory on Mount Fairview.
In neighbouring Kananaskis Country, public safety specialists responded to an avalanche accident near Black Prince on Sunday. The skier caught in the slide suffered a lower leg fracture and was heli-slung to a waiting ambulance.
“Moving forward, we’re still in a period of high hazard and things are still super touchy,” Paulson said. “As things warm up, we expect more activity. It will take a few cycles of heating and freezing for things to improve.”
At Lake Agnes last Saturday, one of the uninjured snowshoers called on a cellphone to raise the alarm.
Rescuers, including search and rescue dog Cazz and handler Mike Henderson, were flown by helicopter to the scene and arrived within 50 minutes of the initial call. STARS air ambulance, EMS and staff from Kananaskis Country were all called in.
Paulson said the two partially buried people, a man and a woman, had managed to dig themselves out with their hands within 45 minutes. They then heard the cries of another friend who was completely buried.
“He was buried in about a metre-and-a-half of snow, but his face was about 30 cms under, so they were able to hear him shouting,” said Paulson. “Fortunately, they went over and dug him out.”
One of the men knew where his longtime girlfriend was buried, so he began probing with a ski pole to find her.
“He found her and exposed her face within about 45 minutes into it,” Paulson said. “He found she was not breathing and unconscious.”
Within five minutes of this, the rescue team arrived. However, due to the threat of additional avalanche activity in the area, rescuers immediately wanted to get everyone out of the area.
The fifth person had not yet been found.
“It was really obvious that only part of the slope had gone, and there was a lot of remaining snow that could avalanche on the survivors and any rescuers there,” Paulson said.
“It was extremely unstable conditions, we were in middle of storm cycle and the hazard was continuing to rise. We had to get everyone out of there.”
The distraught man who was digging out his girlfriend refused to leave with the rescue team, which had landed in a helicopter about 10 metres away.
With spotters looking out for more avalanche activity, Paulson ran to the man to try to get him to leave.
“He had pretty much dug her out. I helped carry her to the helicopter because this would be the quickest way to get him off the slope,” she said. “I can’t say what her condition was, whether deceased or not, but we got her into the helicopter.”
The helicopter flew the survivors, along with the woman who was not breathing, to a waiting ambulance at the parking lot below by the Chateau Lake Louise. The woman was later pronounced dead.
During this time, arrangements were also being made with Lake Louise ski hill’s snow safety team to bring explosives to bomb the area so park rescuers could safely go back to Lake Agnes to find the remaining person.
Crews triggered an additional two avalanches that covered the original avalanche.
Once the area was declared safe, rescuers resumed work on site and brought in search dog Cazz to locate the missing male snowshoer, who was located just before nightfall at 6:20 p.m.
“The window of daylight was vanishing rapidly, and in pretty short order, Cazz found the remaining person. Cazz is the hero here,” Paulson said. “If it wasn’t for that dog, we’d probably have been there quite late at night, or probably not gotten out that night.”
Meanwhile, Highway 93 South through Kootenay National Park between Castle Mountain and Radium Hot Springs was closed 9 p.m. March 8 and reopened 4 p.m. March 10 due to extremely dangerous avalanche conditions.
Paulson said crews dropped 33 explosives, which resulted in about 30 large avalanches, including one on Mount Whymper, immediately north of Vermilion Pass, that crossed the highway. It was about 70 metres in length and 1.5 metres deep.
“Things were extremely touchy. Just about every bomb got huge results,” she said.
Parks Canada reminds backcountry enthusiasts to know the avalanche conditions, carry the appropriate gear and take an avalanche course.
“If you are new to the area, use the park information centres and they can help pick a trip that fits your experience level, training and current hazard,” Paulson said.
For current avalanche conditions, visit www.avalanche.ca.
