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Parks Canada has rescued three groups of hikers in Banff National Park over the past two weeks, all of the incidents linked to the high level of snow still covering many trails.
Steve Holeczi, a Parks Canada visitor safety specialist in Banff National Park, says that it might feel like spring in lower elevations, but once you get into the mountains, it’s still winter.
Two separate groups were rescued within days of one another by helicopter while hiking the Big Beehive trail around Lake Louise. In both cases, the hikers lost the trail, then ended up stuck in snow drifts.
In a third incident, a solo hiker veered off the trail near Peyto Lake. They ended up trapped in deep snow and lost their shoes before sending out an SOS. They were rescued by Parks Canada staff who snowmobiled in and carried the hiker out on a sled.
“It was a serious situation. Certainly if they weren’t able to get out, it’s hard to say what the outcome would have been, because it was night, it was a storm and they were wet,” says Holeczi.
The hiker near Peyto Lake was taken to hospital, while the hikers rescued near Lake Louise were not injured.
Snow can ‘feel like concrete’
Holeczi says many trails appear dry at the start, but conditions can change quickly with elevation, catching hikers off guard.
“In some places, there’s over a metre of snow still,” he said. “It can be well over your knees, and if it’s wet or compacted, it can feel like concrete and be very hard to move through,” Holeczi says.
He adds that timing also plays a role. Snow that is firm enough to walk on in the morning, he says, can soften significantly as temperatures rise, leaving hikers suddenly sinking deep into it by the afternoon.
Avalanche Canada has ended its Mountain Weather Forecast for the season, but as CBC’s Jo Horwood reports, there are still ways to prioritize safety in the backcountry through the spring melt.
“If there’s any uncertainty when you’re hiking — you’re starting to get into deep snow and you don’t have experience with that kind of thing — just turn around,” he says.
While spring rescues are common in the mountains, Holeczi says this year’s heavy snowpack is making conditions worse than usual.
Record breaking snow in Bow Valley has limited spring hiking options
“This is one of those outlier years with the amount of snow that we’ve received,” said Jeff Douglas, who owns the guided hiking company Mountain Goat Adventures.
Douglas says the above-average snowpack and colder temperatures mean many popular Bow Valley trails are still firmly in winter conditions.
“On the weekend, I did a preliminary drive around. I tried to get eyes on some hikes that typically this time of year I can offer, and there was so much snow that I didn’t even attempt them,” he said.
The guide says these conditions likely played a part in the rescues that have taken place recently.
Douglas adds that some people are planning trips based on social media posts or trail apps, which don’t always show current conditions. Photos taken at lower elevations or even just a few days earlier can give hikers the impression trails are clear when they are not, he says.
“We’re going to have a great summer season. It will happen. It’s just going to take a little bit longer this year,” says Douglas.
Holeczi says hikers should expect snow on the trails until the end of May.
He urges hikers to check the Parks Canada Banff National Park trail conditions webpage before heading out.
