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Canmore adventurer mourned following avalanche

A Canmore man known for his adventurous spirit is being remembered this week. Ray Norman, 64, lost his life on the weekend when an avalanche swept him off Tom George Mountain near Smithers B.C.
Ray Norman smiles during a break on Tangle Ridge, en route to leading a Meanderthals group to the summit of Mount Nigel, in the background.
Ray Norman smiles during a break on Tangle Ridge, en route to leading a Meanderthals group to the summit of Mount Nigel, in the background.

A Canmore man known for his adventurous spirit is being remembered this week.

Ray Norman, 64, lost his life on the weekend when an avalanche swept him off Tom George Mountain near Smithers B.C.

Part of a group on an Alpine Club of Canada Calgary Section trip on Saturday, Feb. 26, Norman and a 52-year-old woman from Regina, Sask. were killed while a third was able to be dug out of the snow by a fourth group member.

ACC executive director Lawrence White said the loss hits close to home as Norman was an active member in the Rocky Mountain and Calgary sections of the club.

“It has had a profound effect on the club,” he said. “We are a club and a tight knit community and to have it hit so close to home, with Ray’s involvement, affects a lot of locals.

“Right now, the whole organization is affected by this and we are sending our thoughts and prayers to his friends and family.”

White said safety is one of the most important factors in all Alpine Club activities, making the loss that much more acute.

“Given the sheer volume of activities the Alpine Club does in the backcountry, both in summer and winter, this is very, very unusual,” he said.

Norman was an ACC member since the early ‘80s, sat on the national board of the club, was a past president of the Calgary chapter and in 2008 received the distinguished service award.

He led many ACC trips, the majority in winter, and in 2008 cycled across Canada – something he described in 2009 as a lifelong dream on the ACC website.

“It was an amazing experience,” he wrote. “I would like to do it again, but next time I would not go with a large group.

“By comparison, 2009 is looking a bit tame at the moment!”

In 2010, Norman cycled from Virginia to Oregon, and was planning to pedal from Canmore to Mexico this summer.

A resident of Canmore since 2002 and an actuary by profession, Norman was an active backcountry enthusiast with interests in ski mountaineering, summer mountaineering and scrambling that had a positive influence on the ACC community.

Canmore’s Rod Plasman said he knew Norman for about 15 years and was grateful for the time he’d given volunteering with the Backcountry Skiers in Training (BIT) program Plasman runs for the Alpine Club’s Rocky Mountain Section.

Norman, a member of both the RMS and Calgary sections, went on to create a BIT-style program for the Calgary Section while serving as its chair.

“Ray helped out a lot with the BIT program,” Plasman said. “He was really generous the way he enjoyed helping teach those who were new to backcountry skiing, ensuring that they understood avalanche safety and helping any way he could.”

Plasman also recalled climbing Mount Columbia, at 3,747 metres the second-highest in the Canadian Rockies, with Norman and several others.

“I will always remember his smiling face, checking on us stuck in our tent in a white out on the Columbia Icefield,” Plasman said.

John Reeves, chair of the Canmore seniors’ hiking group the Meanderthals, said Norman was an enthusiastic, meticulous volunteer trip leader.

“He liked challenging hikes; he was very fit,” Reeves said. “He was always very, very safety conscious. He’d pull out his GPS and make sure we were on track. He wanted to make sure everyone on his hikes got through the hike safely, and he wanted to make sure everyone enjoyed the hike.”

Sandy Walker, also a Canmore resident, said she had known Norman for about nine years; they had participated in a ski camp and mountain skills training courses together. Norman stepped up and took over the position of Calgary Section chair when she stepped down.

“One thing that stands out for me about Ray is that he’s really good about introducing new people to the wonders of backcountry skiing, especially through things like intro to glacier travel trips where people could learn more about what they are doing, not just tagging along for the ride,” Walker said. “For a lot of people, it made the experience more meaningful and made them want to learn more.”

Long-time friend Steve Fedyna said Norman was a dedicated volunteer, freely giving his time to both the Alpine Club of Canada and the Elbow Valley Cycle Club.

“He was a loving family man, devoted to his wife, Celia, children, in-laws and grandchildren,” Fedyna said. “He epitomized the perfect backcountry companion - organized, cheerful, enthusiastic, professional, caring, proactive, knowledgeable and an all-round fun guy. I cannot recall ever seeing Ray Norman without a smile on his face. The world is a sadder place without him.”

For ACC Calgary member Brad Duska, Norman was a mentor who hosted crevasse rescue and similar skills practice scenarios in his basement.

“Ray was always actively mentoring and helping new mountaineers,” Duska said. “He was a pleasure to be with, infinitely patient and thoughtful and talented.”

Duska said this winter, Norman had been helping out with his grandchildren’s Jackrabbits group.

“I think Ray enjoyed playing around in the snow with his four and six-year old grandchildren as much as skiing on the slopes of a big peak.”

The eight-day Burnie Glacier Chalet trip was organized by the Calgary Section and Norman was part of a larger group of 10 who were on the self-guided excursion into the area.

The group was flown into the backcountry lodge, in a remote area of the Howson Mountain Range accessible only by helicopter at 1,000 metres elevation, on Friday (Feb. 25) and were ski-touring in the area when the avalanche occurred on Saturday (Feb. 26) afternoon.

Information about a memorial will appear in next Thursday’s Rocky Mountain Outlook.


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