Extremely windy conditions prevented Banff National Park rescuers and a helicopter pilot from plucking two climbers off Mount Temple at first light on Monday (Sept. 26).
The two climbers had not called for help after getting stranded in bad weather on the east ridge the night before, but another climbing party reported they may have gotten into trouble during a thunderstorm.
The two climbers were prepared to continue the climb on the east ridge of Temple at first light Monday, but Parks Canada rescuers say the pair called for assistance when they saw the helicopter.
“They had a pretty rough night, but they were not injured. But if it was feasible, they were requesting a rescue,” said Aaron Beardmore, visitor safety specialist.
“The winds were extremely high and the pilot, Lance Cooper, made a few attempts to get in, but it was too windy. It was just completely unreasonable to long-line them out at that point, especially given the fact they weren’t injured.”
The drama began to unfold on Sunday (Sept. 25) when a climbing party on the east ridge of Temple reported last seeing the other two in an area known as the Big Step.
When the other climbing party got back to the parking lot at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, they noticed there was still another vehicle and figured it belonged to the delayed climbers.
At that point, they raised the alarm with Parks Canada because they suspected the climbers were stranded in bad weather that came through, including heavy rain and snow.
Beardmore said it was too late and dark for the helicopter to fly, but a visitor safety specialist in Lake Louise left a note on the windshield of their vehicle to have them call if they got back safely that night.
The vehicle was still there at 5:30 a.m. Monday, so rescuers went to investigate and Beardmore said the two were spotted from the helicopter about two pitches from the top of the black band around 8 a.m.
Beardmore said the experienced climbers had a radio and cellphone – which they chose not to use the night before because they felt safe – but they used the radio to see if the helicopter was for them.
“They were told there wasn’t an option to fly them off because of the wind, and their only option was to climb up,” he said. “They were fine. They were understanding.”
Using cellphones, they were in constant contact with visitor safety manager Marc Ledwidge, who helped instruct them where the anchors were through the black band.
“The rescue team flew down to Lake Louise and checked in with them every half hour,” said Beardmore. “Once on the summit ridge, they walked off.”
Beardmore said the climbers were a good example of being self-sufficient.
“With a bit of prompting, they were completely willing to finish the undertaking,” he said. “That is an ideal situation. We’re happy to see that.”
Also on the weekend, Parks Canada had to search for an inexperienced scrambler who became separated from three friends at Rockbound Lake near Castle Mountain.
It was close to dark and the helicopter pilot indicated there was about 10 minutes of time in which the rescue team could do their search once they got there.
“We flew and located the person right away in a gully above Rockbound Lake, uninjured, but moving slowly,” said Beardmore.
“We ran up to the person, and with six-and-a-half minutes to do the job, he found the motivation to make it to the helicopter and was flown out.”
