As millions of visitors descended on Banff National Park this summer, Parks Canada’s elite mountain rescue team dealt with a growing number of rescues, including one tragic case in which a female kayaker drowned on the Bow River.
According to Parks Canada, Banff dispatch received 222 calls related to visitor safety for Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks from May 20 until Sept. 4, with 124 of those requiring rescuers to attend the scene.
Twelve of those calls were related to situations involving serious injuries.
“Overall, the call volume increased in summer 2017 when compared to the same period last year, but the number of serious incidents reported was consistent with previous years,” said Christie Thomson, a spokesperson for Banff National Park.
“Most of the increase in incidents was related to inexperienced hikers with minor injuries or concerns. We also saw an increase in hikers that were lost. In these instances, we were often able to assist lost hikers by giving them directions over the phone.”
To the end of August this year, Banff National Park saw a four per cent increase in the number of visitors, to 2.23 million. Visitation is expected to hit 4.25 million tourists by fiscal year end March 2018.
Parks Canada’s data shows the call volume has been generally increasing over the past five years.
Sadly this year, there was one fatality involving a 25-year-old woman from Ontario who was on a solo kayaking trip on the Bow River on May 22.
After a missing person report was filed to the RCMP along with earlier reports of an abandoned kayak, Parks Canada’s rescue team mounted an aerial helicopter search.
The woman’s body was found submerged under a log about 400 metres downriver from Baker Creek at about midnight.
Some of the more serious medical calls for Parks Canada’s recue team this year included cardiac emergencies, stroke, epileptic seizure and heatstroke.
Trauma related calls included a broken pelvis from falling off a horse, and head injuries from falling while hiking, falling while rock climbing and a road biking accident.
Parks Canada’s mountain rescue specialists, recognized as one some of the best in the world, are highly trained to deal with many situations by land, helicopter or jet boat.
“Visitor safety is of utmost importance to Parks Canada and we want to ensure that visitors and residents of the mountain parks have safe and enjoyable experiences,” said Thomson. “All calls are assessed and many may be resolved over the phone.”
In the mid 1950s, two serious accidents on Mount Victoria and Mount Temple, which resulted in eleven deaths, spurred Parks Canada to develop its own mountain rescue capabilities.
As a first step, Parks Canada hired Walter Perren, a Swiss-born professional mountain guide who was working in the Canadian Rockies at the time, to make sure the highest standards would be applied as the new program was developed.
