YOHO – One skier was swept away in an avalanche near Sherbrooke Lake in Yoho National Park last weekend, but lived to tell the tale.
The lucky escape for the man, who was skiing with another person, has prompted Parks Canada to warn climbers and skiers of the hazardous conditions from a weak, shallow snowpack in Banff, Yoho and Kooteney national parks where the avalanche rating is currently considerable.
“It’s maybe a shallower snowpack than we're used to seeing for this time of year and people have a lot of interest in getting out and getting back to skiing like they were for years previous, but the snowpack isn't really that trustworthy and coverage is poor so there’s lots of hazards,” said Tim Haggarty, a public safety specialist for Parks Canada.
“If you take a fall right now, you’re probably not just going to land in snow, you'll probably hit something under the snow, and if you get caught in an avalanche, the avalanche is probably going to scrape you into the ground and into rocks and trees. If an avalanche goes right now it goes to the ground.”
In this most recent case, rescuers got a cellphone call at about 4 p.m. on Dec. 9 about one skier in a party of two, believed to be in their 30s from the Calgary region, who had been swept away in an avalanche on Mount Ogden above Sherbrooke Lake.
As the second skier began his run, he triggered a full depth avalanche, which carried him approximately 500 metres down the slope on Mount Ogden Wall.
The skier suffered leg and back injuries from the fall, but was not buried in the avalanche.
With darkness fast approaching, two visitor safety specialists were flown by Alpine Helicopters to the scene.
An overnight kit containing gear like tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, a stove, fuel, food, fire starter and headlamps was dropped from the helicopter in preparation for camping out for the night.
The two rescuers were dropped in the valley bottom below the accident site and ski toured up.
“We were fortunate in the sense that we could kind of get this guy on his feet and get him out of the avalanche path so that we were in a safe area to deal with his injuries and stabilize for the night,” said Haggarty.
On a 35 degree slope, it took the rescuers about three to four hours to gather enough snow to build a ledge in order to set up the two tents, making the night more comfortable for the injured skier in particular.
“If they had camped out in the centre of that avalanche path, and with just the clothes they had on their back, I don’t think it would have been as good an outcome as it was for them,” said Haggarty.
At first light the next morning, the two skiers were flown to safety by helicopter, with the injured skier transferred to Banff EMS and taken to Mineral Springs Hospital.
Skiers are reminded to make cautious, conservative choices in these hazardous avalanche conditions, and to consider the fact the days are shorter and light fades quickly – and rescue helicopters can’t fly in the dark.
“You can only do so much before you run out of light,” said Haggarty.
“If we’re flying out there in the storm and high winds, and the pilot is really pushing the limit to what he can do in the helicopter, then there’s no safety net for them when he’s got to be on the ground in 15 minutes and you’re still just getting to the scene,” said Haggarty.
“It really doesn't leave much of a safety margin for anybody.”
In this case, after the helicopter dropped the rescuers off at Sherbrooke Lake below the accident site, they had to ski tour up in the dark, in an avalanche path, with the wind howling above, exposing themselves to risk in the process.
“That’s something we strive to avoid – the amount of hazard we expose ourselves to – and the same goes for the pilot like when he's flying around in high winds and poor visibility,” said Haggarty.
“So when people are taking risks near the end of the day or in poor weather, those that go out the door are exposed to that same risk as well.”
Haggarty stresses visitor safety specialists and pilots love helping people, but ask people to consider not pushing it with limited light and high avalanche hazard.
“We live for what we do, but there’s a limit to what we can do and and we don't want to do. We don’t want to die from what we’re doing out there either, “ he said.
“We’re trying to be very deliberate with the decisions we make and the risk we take.”
Knowing safety is a shared responsibility with Parks Canada, visitor safety specialists are hoping backcountry enthusiasts make informed decisions based on the conditions, carry the appropriate gear and equipment like a beacon, shovel, probe and satellite communication device.
“They should understand what the snow is doing beneath their feet and they should be in tune with the weather forecast to know what the mountain is doing above their head,” said Haggarty.
“The snowpack we deal with is a little less forgiving than you see in a lot of parts of the world. It’s very temperature affected and it tends to be fairly weak as a result.”
Haggarty said there also needs to be extras in the day backpack, like food and warm clothes in the event someone has to spend the night on the mountain if they get injured or lost.
While the two skiers last weekend had a cellphone, he said a satellite communication device is strongly recommended.
“In this case, these guys got really lucky they were able to get cellphone reception,” said Haggarty.
“If they hadn't been able to call for help, they would have been out there the whole night on their own.”
The avalanche conditions are expected to remain hazardous into the near future.
The current conditions, which are rated considerable, mean natural avalanches are possible and human-triggered slides are likely.
“Given this persistent weak layer, it will remain likely that humans could trigger an avalanche,” said James Eastham, a Parks Canada spokesperson for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay national parks in an email.
“Historically, it's at this rating where many accidents occur.”
On Nov. 11, one person was killed in a size 2 avalanche in Kananaskis Country. Two ice climbers on the Lone Ranger Route in Peter Lougheed were near hit near the base of the climb after descending the route.
One climber was partly buried and able to dig themselves out. The other person was fully buried and did not survive.
