A Calgary skier and member of the mountaineering community has died in hospital after he was caught in an avalanche on Saturday near Lake Louise.
Officials say Greg Di Valentin,38, was skiing with friends in the Helen Shoulder Glades, 4 km south of Num-Ti-Jah Lodge when the slide happened.
Di Valentin and three other skiers in his party were well equiped for the conditions and were not far off of Highway 93 when the avalanche hit.
RCMP say Di Valentin had surgery but was unable to recover and passed away at Foothills Hospital on Sunday evening.
The man was the fourth avalanche death in the mountain parks over the past week.
On Friday, a 36-year-old man from Lloydminster was killed while snowmobiling near Red Sand Mountain in Jasper.
He has not yet been identified.
The bodies of a father and son were also recovered from the aftermath of an avalanche on the shore of Lake Louise.
The slide happened a week ago, but no one knew they were missing until they failed to check out of the Chateau Lake Louise.
Rescuers say Gabriel Miranov, 33, and his son, Oliver, 11, were simply having fun in the snow at Mount Fairview, about 300 metres from the hotel, when the avalanche happened.
Officials say they likely had no idea what was happening.
“There were not the typical back country enthusiasts or thrill seekers in any way,” says Bill Hunt with Parks Canada. “They went tobogganing, they were hotel guests, looking for a place to toboggan.”
There has not been an avalanche death in a national park in Alberta since 2008 and in 2014, there have been already been six.
"We really do want to get the message out that, as you can see from the snow, we are heading into another storm cycle so the hazard is high and we really want to get that message out," said Bill Hunt from Parks Canada.
According to the Canadian Avalanche Centre, the risk for avalanches in Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks is high, but may improve on Tuesday.
The risk is still high in Kananaskis at the alpine level and is considerabe at treeline level.
