The injured were part of a group of 11 skiers hit by the avalanche near Bow Hut on Friday, February 12, 2016 according to Parks Canada
One of the skiers was fully buried, a second was partially buried and suffered a broken leg and a third skier was partially buried and injured a knee.
The group dug themselves out and called Parks Canada via satellite phone for help. There were no fatalities.
“We're very pleased with the outcome that no one was injured more seriously,” said Tania Peters, Parks Canada. “Big kudos to this group for having that experience and knowledge because they were certainly able to self-rescue which is what people need to be able to do when they're out in wintertime in avalanche terrain."
Crews from Parks Canada arrived with a helicopter on Saturday morning to evacuate the injured, rather than attempt a dangerous nighttime rescue.
The group was planning to spend several days at the popular Bow Hut located on the Wapta Icefield north of Lake Louise. Four of the individuals had made it to Bow Hut while the remaining group triggered a size 2 avalanche at approximately 4:30 p.m. less than a kilometre away from the Hut.
The party was equipped with avalanche rescue equipment, and was prepared with companion rescue training enabling them to locate and dig up their buried friends.
Parks Canada is rating the avalanche danger rating at considerable at the tree line.
