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Banff Avalanche


kioti

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I just heard that there were three WA ice climbers that were caught in an avalanche up in Banff. Apparently, two were killed and one is 'missing'. Wondering if anyone has heard anything on this yet. I have aquaintences that are up climbing... hope it's not them.

 

Best hope and wishes to the missing climber and the families of all the climbers.

 

Alan

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I was just about to post this question as well. It appears that my wife's ex-husband may be one of those killed. We got a call last night about 10:30.

 

I never met him, but they parted on good terms. He was quite a skilled climber and mountaineer. His brother is/was head of a Westside mountain rescue unit (Tacoma? Seattle?). Don't know yet if they were together when it hit. Any info that is out there would be appreciated by my wife. TIA.

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i've been waiting for this topic to pop up, but i wont release the names.

 

i too knew the climbers. you'll hear more about them and the accident soon, as both are active in the outdoors and volunteered a great deal of their time to mountain climbing and rescue.

 

sobo is right, they were both outstanding men. this is very sad, my thoughts and empathy go out to their family, friends, and colleagues.

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Here is the CBC story

 

http://calgary.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ca_avalanche20040213

 

I doubt pieps wouldve done much good here [note to news vultures reading this despite the inference your CBC colleague made]since the search did not begin for several HOURS after the slide.

 

I am going to guess the incident took place on Lady Wilson's....

 

frown.gif Deaths are bad. MCTTFAF etc.

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I was up there a week ago, and Lady Wilson's Cleavage was full of *fresh* avalanche debris - most of the climb was buried. We went up and climbed Wilson Major, got a pretty good view of the basin above LWC and it was pretty clear. Mt. Wilson is chock full of routes and almost everything is in, so there are a lot of possiblities. Hopefully we'll get a more definitive answer

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The last thing we need is to start the speculation and second guessing game, but I've been in lady wilson's cleavage and I dont think I'd have the balls to do it in anything more than "low" avalanche conditions. I remember it being the terrain trap to end all terrain traps. It was threatened from nearly every direction. Thankfully we did it early in the year and there was no snowpack.

 

Even when it's people I dont know, it hits pretty hard when they are people who are from towns right next to you, doing the same things you like to do. frown.gif

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The last thing we need is to start the speculation and second guessing game, but I've been in lady wilson's cleavage and I dont think I'd have the balls to do it in anything more than "low" avalanche conditions. I remember it being the terrain trap to end all terrain traps. It was threatened from nearly every direction...

 

Has it been determined yet that they were actually in LWC drainage? Most I've read is "west side of Mt. Wilson", which covers a pretty broad range of routes.

 

I've climbed in LWC and Major Wilson as well. Terrain traps they are, oh yes. I didn't even know what the avy rating was, but I'm sure I'd experience shrinkage if I were to learn now. It was definitely more than "low", that's fer sure.

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