Missing Calgary hiker found dead on slope of Kananaskis Country mountain

KANANASKIS COUNTRY – A 25-year-old man from Calgary reported missing to RCMP yesterday was found dead in Kananaskis Country.

Local RCMP say the man, who was not named by police but has been identified by family and friends on Facebook as Zachary Coates, was found on the west-facing slope of Mount Smuts Monday (Aug. 12).

“We were advised that he was hiking out in the mountains and had not been heard from,” said RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Troy Savinkoff.

“We immediately alerted Kananaskis Emergency Services, which is obviously a crucial partner that we have out there in assisting with any kind of search and rescues.”

Kananaskis Emergency Services had received the same report shortly before RCMP and had already sent a conservation officer to a potential staging area where the man started his hike.

“We were alerted soon after that, in fact, his vehicle was located and we approved a helicopter to be utilized by KES to begin an aerial search in the area,” said Savinkoff.

“By noon, we were advised by Kananaskis Emergency Services that they had located our lost hiker. He was unfortunately deceased.”

His death has been deemed non-suspicious and his body has been transported to the Chief Medical Examiner in Calgary where an autopsy will be performed.

RCMP say based on where he was found on the mountain, it is likely he fell.

“Right now, all indications are that [his death] involved a fall off of that mountain,” said Savinkoff.

Mount Smuts is a 2,938-metre summit in the Spray Valley, near the northern end of the Spray Mountains, located on the boundary of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and Banff National Park. Summiting the mountain is described as a difficult and exposed scramble.

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.