B.C. climber dead after avalanche in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
A 29-year-old B.C. man was killed Saturday following an avalanche in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Alberta's Kananaskis Country.
RCMP Corp. Troy Savinkoff said Stoney Nakoda RCMP received notice of an avalanche involving two people shortly after 3 p.m. MT, on Saturday.
Rescuers found a 26-year-old woman, but the man she was with had not yet been found, according to a RCMP release sent Sunday.
One of the climbers was partially buried, Savinkoff said, but was able to get free and activate a Garmin GPS device, advising of the avalanche.
According to an incident report from Avalanche Canada's website, the climbers were on the Lone Ranger ice climb in the park's Ranger Creek when they were struck from above by an avalanche. The park is near the Alberta-B.C. border.
The two climbers were swept into a gully below, where one person was fully buried.
On Sunday morning, Savinkoff says RCMP were advised by Kananaskis Emergency Services that the buried climber, who was reported missing at the time, had been recovered and was deceased.
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The body of a man — a Squamish, B.C. resident — was retrieved from under the snow, and has been taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, police said.
Alberta Parks has closed the Ranger Creek Drainage, including four ice climbs, until further notice.
This story, written by Lily Dupuis, was originally published for CBC News on November 12, 2023.
Thumbnail image courtesy: Avalanche Canada
