Calgary man killed in avalanche Saturday
Posted Mar 17, 2014 11:24 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Calgary man has become the latest to die in a string of slides over the past few days.
The 38 year old was skiing in a group of four in the back country at the time of the avalanche.
“His own party was able to locate him and dig him out and begin first aid and CPR,” says Parks Canada’s Bill Hunt. “One of the members skied down to the road and flagged down a couple of vehicles and had them pass on an emergency message once they got back into cell range.”
Hunt says that’s when they got the call, they flew into the scene along Highway 93 near Helens Shoulders and airlifted the victim to a warden office where he could be transferred into a STARS chopper to Calgary.
He died yesterday afternoon in Foothills hospital.
“There he underwent surgery but was unable to recover from his injuries and passed away yesterday afternoon with family at his side,” says RCMP Sergeant Jeff Campbell.
According to the Lake Louise detachment commander, the family has requested that his name not be released at this stage.
Experts say the group did everything they could, they were well prepared, had the right equipment and were able to find the victim because he was wearing a transceiver.
“They did a fantastic job under some really difficult circumstances,” Hunt says.
Conditions in the area are being described as extremely unstable, it’s all thanks to a weak layer that’s down about 60 centimetres to a meter, depending on the area.
Officials say they were travelling with caution in the area at the time with that in mind.
They’re urging caution for anyone heading into the mountains and to make sure you know the conditions before heading out for some fun.
It’s just one of three deadly slides happening in the past few days.
A Montréal man and his son were found late Saturday under the snow on the shores of Lake Louise after they had gone missing for several days.
The two were staying at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and were last seen on March 9th renting a toboggan.
RCMP were called when they failed to check out on time.
And then on Friday, a Saskatchewan man was killed while snowmobiling near Clearwater BC.
