Skier ‘Uninjured’ After Being Caught Up in Avalanche in Banff National Park: Parks Canada

A Parks Canada logo is pictured in Banff on May 15, 2025. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

A skier is safe after triggering an avalanche while going down a slope in Alberta’s Lake Louise area.

Parks Canada said the avalanche, captured on video by another skier, occurred in the backcountry outside the Lake Louise Ski Area in Banff National Park on Jan. 20.

“We are thankful the pair were willing to share their video for its value in informing other recreationalists in a timely manner,” Parks Canada said in a Jan. 20 post on social media.

The post said the two skiers were “experienced, well-equipped,” and that they descended one at a time and had a plan for a safe location to regroup.

Parks Canada said it was a size 2 avalanche and had been triggered by a single skier heading down a west-facing slope at an elevation of 2,450 metres.

Avalanches are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with one being “relatively harmless” and five having the capacity to “destroy a village or a forest of 40 hectares,” according to Avalanche Canada. The organization said that size 2 avalanches can bury, injure, or kill a person.

“The skier was carried to the bottom, buried to their waist and lost both skis, but was otherwise uninjured,” Parks Canada said in the post.

The avalanche was said to be a “deep persistent slab that failed,” located on a layer of facets that had formed in November.

Parks Canada said it was an important reminder that the “Deep Persistent Slab problem remains a concern” on the eastern side of the forecast area, where there area thin to thick snowpack transition areas.

Skiers have been advised to avoid thin areas like rocky outcrops where avalanches can be triggered.

Parks Canada has advised anyone entering avalanche terrain to be prepared with skills and equipment to “self-rescue” if necessary, check the daily avalanche report before heading out, and watch for bulletin information and other observations throughout the day.

Duo Avalanches

The incident follows the deaths of two skiers in separate incidents in the Alberta Rocky Mountains in March 2025.

Alberta RCMP responded to calls of an avalanche near the Lake Louise ski resort on March 14 where one person was reported missing. Alberta Health Services confirmed to The Epoch Times that the individual had died in the avalanche.

In an avalanche incident report by Parks Canada on the Avalanche Canada website, it said two skiers had been working their way back to a ski area after skiing in an out of bounds area from the resort. One of the skiers triggered an avalanche and was carried about 50 metres and buried in snow.

RCMP said they responded to a second avalanche call in Kananaskis Country shortly after the first avalanche call.

The second avalanche was in a backcountry area off highway 742 near Mount Black Prince, RCMP said.

Police said that four people had been skiing when the avalanche occurred and a 34-year-old Calgary woman in the group had been separated from the others and buried in the snow. She was declared deceased by first responders at the scene.