Officials say three people are believed dead after an avalanche in Banff National Park on Wednesday afternoon.
The victims are three men, one American and two Europeans, who were attempting to climb the east face of Howse Peak on the Icefields Parkway.
A representative of The North Face identified the group as David Lama, Jess Roskelley and Hansjörg Auer, members of the Global Athlete Team:
They are missing, and local search and rescue has assumed the worst. We are waiting to learn additional information as the search mission continues. They are valued and loved members of The North Face family. We are doing everything we can to support their families, friends and the climbing community during this difficult time and will continue to keep you updated. We ask that you keep our athletes and their loved ones in your hearts and thoughts.
Emergency crews were alerted to the disappearance of the group when they were reported overdue.
An aerial search discovered evidence of a number of avalanches and debris containing climbing equipment.
Based on an assessment, officials believe that all three men perished.
Ash Routen, an adventure writer from the U.K., says news of the incident has hit the outdoor world hard.
“Because of the nature of their abilities, they’re high profile climbers, it’s a bit of a blow to the climbing community for sure.”
He says Lama and Auer had pulled off a number of difficult solo climbs over the past 12 months so they are pretty recognized names in Europe.
“They were sort of pushing the older generation, as it were, out of the scene to some extent. In the past five years they’ve been doing climbs regarded as near the ‘cream of the crop’ of their current generation.”
Routen says there are plenty of risks for climbers in areas such as Howse Peak.
“You have huge ice cliffs and seracs that could fall at any moment. Avalanches, which of course is the issue we’re discussing here. You have rock falls and then you have mistakes where you simply fall and careen down a large mountain face.”
He adds climbers are aware of the risks when they go out climbing and strive to take an unsafe environment and try to minimize the risks as much as possible.
Parks Canada is investigating the incident but says dangerous conditions and the risk of further avalanches have prevented any recovery efforts at this time.
Officials extend condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the mountaineers.
