Climbing
On Tuesday, July 28, an unnamed female hiker in her 20s lost her footing and fell to her death in the Marvel Peak area of Banff National Park, Alberta. The incident marked the second slip-and-fall fatality in the park within a three-day span. The deceased hiker was accompanied by three other hikers, all of whom were partaking in a multi-day backpacking loop through some of Banff’s most remote wilderness.
While the Canmore Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have not released details of the group’s exact route, the incident occurred in an area commonly accessed by hikers completing the Assiniboine Peak Circuit. The roughly 35-mile loop usually takes between three and five days to complete, traversing the remote wilderness of southwestern Banff, along the British Columbia-Alberta border.
Marvel Peak itself sits in a particularly isolated area. The location where the incident occurred is a nearly 15-mile hike from the nearest road, and is largely inaccessible without the use of a helicopter. Given this, when an emergency call for help was made by the group around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, an air response team was immediately assembled by Parks Canada.
Unfortunately, extremely high winds in the area on Tuesday afternoon forced groups attempting to make contact, such as the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society, to stand down until conditions allowed for a safe rescue. On the morning of Wednesday, July 29, the wind cleared, enabling the hiker’s recovery by helicopter and transport to the Calgary Medical Examiner, where it was determined the fall itself was likely unsurvivable.
This tragedy unfortunately comes on the heels of another, unrelated slip-and-fall fatality in Banff, as a similar incident occurred on Mount Temple on Saturday, July 25. As CBC reports, a 65-year-old Calgary man was attempting a scrambling route on the upper slopes of the mountain when, around 8 p.m., he lost his footing and fell to his death on one of Banff National Park’s most difficult climbs.
The hike to the peak of Mount Temple, which rises over 5,000 feet from the valley floor, includes large sections of exposed scree fields and difficult scrambles. The mountain’s steep terrain, coupled with its accessible location — just miles south of Lake Louise, one of Banff’s most popular tourist destinations — makes Mount Temple one of the more dangerous climbs in the park, as the route has now claimed five lives since 2019.
While attempting the perilous hike with a group of friends, the Calgary man slipped while scrambling and fell an estimated 200 meters to his death around 8 p.m. on Saturday. Fellow hikers were able to contact emergency services, and a helicopter was immediately deployed by safety specialists, but the man could not be saved — he was pronounced dead upon arrival at a nearby staging area.
These two recent incidents are a reminder of the unpredictable risks of mountain scrambling, even on established and popular routes. Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay national parks collectively record roughly 10 deaths per year, demonstrating that the Canadian Rockies demand respect from even experienced hikers and climbers.
