Parks Canada is beefing up avalanche safety messaging with permanent signage for visitors to the Lake Louise and Emerald Lake region after five people were killed in avalanches in Banff National Park in March.
All but one of the deaths, which involved an experienced Calgary skier with avalanche training, happened in easily accessible areas near Lake Louise, prompting Parks to review how it communicates avalanche risk to people not intending to head into the backcountry.
Officials say permanent signs are being put up on the promenade by the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, and on trails to Lake Agnes, Plain of Six Glaciers and Saddleback Pass in Banff National Park, as well as the lakeshore trail at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park.
Brian Webster, visitor safety manager for Banff National Park, said Parks Canada’s messaging has typically focused on the traditional backcountry user –ski tourers and ice climbers – with specific trailhead information, hazard terrain ratings and avalanche bulletins.
But, he said, there has been an increase in the number of people, which Parks Canada is referring to as non-purposeful backcountry travellers, who don’t plan to head into the backcountry and typically don’t know anything about avalanche risk.
“In some areas, particularly around Lake Louise and Emerald Lake, the backcountry is very, very close to the trailheads. In some places, you get out of your car and you can access the backcountry in a very short period of time, sometimes in five or 10 minutes,” said Webster.
“There are many, many trails that have avalanche risk and we don’t want to be signing all of them, but we’re targetting those ones where it’s not unreasonable to expects hikers and tourists to walk up to them. We’re not closing areas, we’re not telling people not to go there, but we’re telling people very bluntly beyond this area is avalanche risk.”
The five avalanche deaths in March, including a 33-year-old father tobagganing with his 11-year-old son not far from the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, were the first avalanche fatalities in the national park since 2008.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of Montreal man Gabriel Mironor and his young son Oliver Mironor on March 15 – several days after they were buried in a large avalanche while tobogganing on or near a steep slide path on Mount Fairview on the shores of Lake Louise.
The following day, on March 16, 38-year-old Greg Di Valentin, an experienced outdoorsman from Calgary, died in hospital surrounded by family after he was buried in an avalanche the day before near Helen Shoulder glades on the Icefields Parkway.
A week earlier on March 8, a 42-year man and a 31-year-old woman who were temporary foreign workers from Spain, were killed in a big slide they triggered while snowshoeing with three others on Lake Agnes, a small lake above Lake Louise.
After last winter’s avalanche fatalities, Parks Canada began brainstorming, including with the tourism industry, on how to better communicate avalanche danger to this new demographic.
There are different levels of signage, with one set of signage simply alerting people that there is avalanche danger beyond a certain point from November through June, typically located on the trail.
There are also larger signs with more specific information on areas Parks Canada advises people to stay away from.
“In Lake Louise, if you’re looking at Mount Victoria, all of the left side of the shoreline of Lake Louise underneath Mount Fairview, and at Emerald Lake, we’ve identified the avalanche path that comes down to the lake opposite the resort. We’re letting them know this is avalanche terrain and this should be avoided,” said Webster.
“We’re not targeting backcountry users. We’re targeting people getting off buses, the hotel guests, people that want to go for little bit of walk, see some views and stretch their legs. We want to push them in the right direction and keep them away from danger areas.”
At press time, avalanche conditions in Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks were rated considerable in the alpine, treeline and below treeline.
Warm temperatures and rain will destabilize the already weak snowpack, especially at lower elevations. Ice climbers, in particular, are being warned to stay out of low elevation gullies.
