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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
For Glacier National Park, Avalanche Canada currently rates avalanche risk in the alpine and treeline as moderate.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Parks Canada begins its 2025-26 winter permit season in the park this Saturday, Nov. 15.<\/p>\n