BANFF – Three of the best alpine mountaineers in the world reached the summit of Howse Peak last Tuesday (April 16) before a size three avalanche swept them off the east face of the mountain to their death.
According to Parks Canada, the party of three began the highly technical ascent in the morning of April 16 and reached the summit around noon. As they were descending that afternoon an avalanche swept all three men off the snowy slopes to the base of the east face of the mountain where their bodies were located five days later.
Parks Canada was first alerted of the incident when they were reported overdue on Wednesday afternoon (April 17). The three men were identified by outdoor apparel company The North Face as David Lama, 28, Jess Roskelley, 36, and Hansjorg Auer, 35 and were widely considered among the best alpinists in the world with many first ascents.
Upon learning of the incident, Parks Canada visitor safety specialists immediately responded by helicopter and observed signs of a large avalanche and debris containing climbing equipment.
Based on an initial assessment of the scene, Parks Canada determined that all three members of the party were dead and deemed it unsafe to recover their bodies until weather and avalanche conditions improved.
“Parks Canada crews along with Alpine Helicopters responded almost immediately once the call was placed and due to inclement weather we searched the area for quite a long time and we did see signs of multiple avalanches and debris containing climbing equipment along with strong evidence that the climbing party was deceased and involved in the avalanche,” said Stephen Holeczi, a Parks Canada visitor safety specialist.
Parks Canada attempted to recover the bodies several times over the course of the next few days, however due to poor weather and heightened avalanche risk visitor safety specialists weren’t able to conduct a ground search until Saturday (April 20).
“Due to the elevated avalanche risk the visitor safety specialist stayed attached to a long line to allow for immediate evacuation in case of an avalanche,” said Shelley Humphries, Parks Canada’s incident commander. “The site was probed and searched unsuccessfully until the weather and light conditions deteriorated hampering recovery efforts.”
The following morning on Sunday (April 21), the visitor safety team returned to the site to continue probing, however they were unable to find the bodies, so they brought in an avalanche dog, which located the three men.
“David, Jess and Hansjorg are valued and loved members of The North Face family and we are doing everything we can to support their families, friends and community and the climbing community during this difficult time,” said a statement from the company.
“We will continue to keep you updated and ask that you keep our athletes and their loved ones in your heart and thoughts.”
The Spokesman-Review, a daily newspaper in Spokane, Wash., where Roskelley grew up, reported that among the items that were recovered from the site was Roskelley’s phone, which contained an image of the three men smiling at the top of the mountain prior to their death.
Climbers from around the world expressed their shock and disbelief upon learning of the tragic news, including climbers in Canmore who met the three men earlier in the week.
“We’ve been reading about these guys for years since all of them rose to fame and started to take over the climbing world, so if you told me last week that any of them passed anyway anywhere in the world I wouldn’t believe it, but to know that all of them passed away in the past 24 hours right here in our own backyard is unbelievable,” said Brandon Pullan, editor-in-chief for Gripped Magazine.
He was speaking during a climbing event held at the Canmore Brewing Company on Thursday (April 18), where the three men had watched a show a week earlier.
Peter Hoang, a local climber in the area, said he didn’t know the men well, but spoke with Roskelley a few days earlier to get some information on a route they were planning to climb called Andromeda Strain, which the three men had done four days prior.
“They actually climbed the route in very subpar conditions,” said Hoang. “Jess was very nice in terms of telling us more generous information about the climbing route, but when we climbed it we realized that those guys were really high calibre because when they did Andromeda Strain the conditions spoke very highly of their skills.”
He said his group decided to bail on their attempt to get to the top of Andormeda Strain on the same day the three men died climbing Howse Peak.
“A storm was supposed to hit in the afternoon, the snowpack was really bad and the professional climber on our team called it,” said Hoang.
“Sometimes you just pull the short straw because a lot of the locals in town knew the conditions were off, but these were some of the best climbers in the world and it’s a sobering thought that they would die in your backyard like this, so it’s a reminder that the Rockies are real.”
Brian Webster, manager of visitor safety in Banff National Park, said avalanche conditions were rated as “spring” on the day of the accident.
“What that means is the avalanche hazard can change throughout the day depending on the aspect, elevation and time of day. What is important to note here is the avalanche conditions changed significantly after the day of the accident,” said Webster, explaining a storm rolled in after the accident dramatically increasing the avalanche risk.
Howse Peak is described as a remote area and an “exceptionally difficult objective” with mixed rock and ice routes requiring advanced alpine mountaineering skills. The summit is approximately 3,200 metres, or 10,500 feet.
“The east face of Howse Peak is an extremely difficult alpine climb,” said Webster.
“By all accounts these three climbers had the skill sets to climb this route. Having said that, anybody involved in an avalanche of that magnitude it’s going to be bad outcome, there’s no amount of skill set that is going to increase your ability to survive an avalanche like that.”
He said a total of 28 people took part in the search and rescue operation over the course of five days, which was complicated by the fact that none of the men were wearing avalanche transceivers.
“In this particular case, the outcome would not have changed, but it would have expedited the search and the recovery,” said Humphries.
The three men who passed away made a name for themselves by climbing some of the world’s most difficult peaks, including attempting to climb M16, a 1,000 metre face widely considered one of the most difficult route’s on Howse Peak, which was first done in 1999.
Roskelley was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, and was the youngest American to summit Mt. Everest in 2003 with his father, famed American climber John Roskelley. He also climbed several major ice climbing routes in the Canadian Rockies including, Nemesis, The Real Big Drip, Polar Circus and Hydrophobia.
“We have had just an outpouring of people who care for him and he has a beautiful wife who adores him as well, so we’re with her and doing the best we can,” said Jordan Roskelley, Jess’s sister during an interview with CBS News.
Lama and Auer were both from Austria and were also known for many daring expeditions.
Among Lama’s many accomplishments, he completed the first free ascent of Cerro Torre in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America, which was captured in the documentary Cerro Torre: A Snowball’s Chance in Hell.
“David dedicated his life to the mountains and his passion for climbing and alpinism shaped and accompanied our family. He always followed his own path and lived his dream. We will accept what now happened as a part of that,” wrote his parents Claudia and Rinzi Lama.
Auer started his career as a professional climber in 2009, after quitting his teaching job at a secondary school, according to his personal website. Highlights of his climbing career include a solo ascent of Lupghar Sar West and the first ascent of Gimmigela East, both are located in the Himalayas.
“Parks Canada extends our sincerely condolences to the Roskelley, Lama and Auer families as well as their friends and loved ones,” said Humphries. “Parks Canada would also like to acknowledge the impact that this incident has had on tight knit local and international climbing communities.”
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Three Mountaineers presumed dead in Banff avalanche
