A search for a backcountry skier who fell into a crevasse on the Wapta Icefield ended Tuesday (March 19) after nearly a week.
Parks Canada rescuers recovered the body of a skier identified as Mark Taylor, the Abbotsford, B.C. general manager for parks, recreation and culture, from a crevasse on the Wapta Traverse in Yoho National Park late Tuesday afternoon.
Steve Holeczi, a visitor safety specialist with Parks Canada, said Wednesday (March 20) searchers located the body about 30 metres down a crevasse covered in about six metres of snow.
The rescue effort began Wednesday (March 13) after the skiers sent a SPOT Beacon distress signal at 12:26 a.m.
A blizzard, coupled with high winds and a high-avalanche hazard, kept rescuers from reaching the site by foot and by helicopter.
“We got organized for first light to fly up to the site,” Holeczi said after Parks Canada received the rescue beacon signal. “We did try numerous times that day to get up there, but it was right at the beginning of this intense storm system and high avalanche hazard and very strong winds, so it was really difficult.
“We managed to get close to the glacier, but it is a different world up there.”
The elevation in the area the rescuers were trying to reach is 2,650 metres, he said.
“It’s right on the glacier ice cap and the weather is quite difficult at the best of times, so up until the 19th that is what we were doing: Every time there was a weather window to get in there, we’d try.”
A break in the storm on Friday (March 15) allowed Alpine Helicopters pilot Todd Cooper to fly safety specialists to the site.
It was Cooper, Holeczi said, who spotted Taylor’s companions standing on the glacier waving.
“Todd did some pretty amazing flying out there. He deserves a lot of credit out there,” Holeczi said.
The two skiers spent three nights in a snow cave they had dug near the crevasse.
Holeczi said all three skiers were well prepared for the traverse in both experience and gear.
“To their credit, they were well prepared,” he said.
Taylor’s companions were flown out, but the break in the storm ended before the rescue team could get down into the crevasse.
“Our priority was to get the two people on the surface out and by that time the weather closed out,” Holeczi said.
The weather finally cleared Tuesday, giving rescuers an opportunity to recover Taylor’s body in the afternoon.
The Wapta Traverse is a common route in spring and Holeczi said backcountry skiers expect crevasses.
He added, however, he couldn’t speculate on what went wrong.
“I can’t speculate what they were thinking as far as travel techniques or anything like that, but there are lots of crevasses on the traverse for anybody who does it. On the Wapta, you would know before you set off that there are crevasses there,” he said.
“It was a difficult rescue and our condolences go out to the family. We’re glad at least two are okay,” said Holeczi.
