Parks Canada’s winter permit season at Rogers Pass doesn’t start for another week, but backcountry enthusiasts have already had multiple close calls with avalanches.
Glacier National Park’s Balu Pass was the site of two avalanches last Saturday, Nov. 8, that each partially buried a skier, according to Mountain Information Network (MIN) reports shared with Avalanche Canada.
Shortly before noon, a group of four skiers descending northeastward into Connaught Creek got an unwelcome surprise when one member triggered a slope that sent their companion “for a ride” over a steep and rocky cliff.
Activating his avalanche airbag and getting carried 50 to 100 metres, the skier ended up half buried and lost a ski but sustained only bruises and “was lucky not to get hurt in the cliffs or trees.”
Photos shared by the skiers of the slide’s footprint should show a crown roughly one to two feet deep and at least 50 metres wide where the avalanche commenced.
An hour later, another skier quartet descending northeast into Balu Pass had one member caught up in a Size 2 avalanche that sent debris rolling 120 metres below.
Like the previous incident, the skier deployed their avalanche airbag as they got dragged down and ended up partially buried, but managed to self-rescue.
A Size 1 avalanche was subsequently triggered as one of their companions searched for a lost ski around the slope, but this slide didn’t cause harm to the group. Avalanches of this size pose little direct threat to humans, according to Avalanche Canada, but Size 2 occurrences can trap, bury, injure or kill backcountry users.
Noting the incidents online, the non-profit emphasized that “low snow coverage doesn’t eliminate avalanche danger” and that early-season backcountry users should “expect to hit rocks, logs, and open creeks in your travels.”
For Glacier National Park, Avalanche Canada currently rates avalanche risk in the alpine and treeline as moderate.
“If there’s enough to ride, there’s enough to slide!” Avalanche Canada adds. “Be sure to bring a transceiver, shovel and probe if you venture out.”
Parks Canada begins its 2025-26 winter permit season in the park this Saturday, Nov. 15.
Read the latest MIN reports at avalanche.ca.