Backcountry Skier Dies After Falling Into Crevasse On Athabasca Glacier

A 38-year-old man from the Czech Republic who was living in Revelstoke, B.C., has died after falling roughly 25 metres into a crevasse while backcountry skiing on the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park.

Alberta RCMP said police were called to the Columbia Icefield around 5:20 p.m. on May 12 after one of three backcountry skiers and snowboarders fell into a crevasse while descending the Athabasca Glacier from the south ridge of Mount Andromeda.

According to experienced ski mountaineer Oakley Werenka from Calgary, who has completed more than seven ski mountaineering expeditions on the Columbia Icefield via the Athabasca glacier, including Mount Andromeda, skiing the mountain’s south ridge is considered a classic spring objective for advanced backcountry skiers.

Accessing the route requires travelling across the Columbia Icefield while navigating crevasses and passing beneath large hanging ice formations known as seracs.

Parks Canada said the group was travelling in technical glacier terrain near the top of the glacier’s highest icefall, a steep section of broken and heavily crevassed glacier ice, when the man fell.

“While approaching the top of the highest icefall, one member of the group fell about 25 metres into a large crevasse,” said Parks Canada spokesperson Karly Savoy.

Savoy said the group was equipped for crevasse rescue and attempted to reach the man before calling for help, but surrounding crevasses prevented them from safely accessing him.

“The group was equipped for crevasse rescue and attempted to assist, but they could not safely access the individual due to multiple surrounding crevasses,” she said.

Visitor safety specialists from Jasper and Banff national parks, along with RCMP, EMS and STARS Air Ambulance crews, responded to the Columbia Icefield following the emergency call.

“At approximately 7:30 p.m., visitor safety specialists descended into the crevasse and confirmed that the 38-year-old man had died from injuries sustained in the fall,” Savoy said.

Parks Canada said poor weather and hazardous glacier conditions prevented recovery crews from retrieving the body until May 14.

The incident occurred in technical alpine terrain far beyond the tourist-access areas near the toe of the glacier.

According to Werenka, there are two common ways to navigate the descent from Mount Andromeda.

One option is to ski beneath the seracs along the skier’s left side of the glacier, which carries overhead hazard from falling ice. The other is to descend more directly down the centre of the icefield, where the primary risk comes from heavily crevassed terrain and the potential for a fall into a crevasse.

Experts generally consider it best practice to rope up while travelling through the more heavily crevassed sections of the glacier, though Bow Valley Insider was unable to confirm whether the group involved in the incident was roped at the time.

A similar incident also occurred on the Columbia Icefield in 2011, when a man fell roughly 30 metres into a crevasse near Mount Snow Dome. At the time, Parks Canada’s manager of visitor safety for the mountain national parks, Marc Ledwidge, told the Rocky Mountain Outlook the man was unroped when he fell while travelling in a group of three. Rescue crews were able to extract him from the crevasse after several hours, but he later died in hospital from his injuries and severe hypothermia.

Parks Canada warned glacier environments remain inherently dangerous, even for experienced and properly equipped backcountry users.

“Glacier environments are complex and hazardous, and accidents can occur even with experience and training,” Savoy said.

The agency said anyone travelling on glaciers should be properly equipped and trained in glacier travel, navigation and rescue techniques, while also checking weather and avalanche forecasts before entering the backcountry.

For anybody dealing with mountain-related trauma or loss, support resources are available through Mountain Muskox.