Two separate avalanches have left two skiers dead near Lake Louise and in Kananaskis.
According to an incident report by Avalanche Canada, two skiers were working back to the ski area on a flagged traverse line on Mar. 14 after skiing in Pipestone Bowl, out-of-bounds from the Lake Louise area.
"At 1500 hrs, Skier 1 triggered the avalanche on a 25-degree slope that propagated to the steeper terrain overhead," the report states.
The skier was carried 50m and buried in over 150cm of snow.
The other skier unburied the man and initiated first aid. Park Canada Visitor Safety located the pair and evacuated them to an emergency ground crew, where the man was pronounced dead.
At about 3:45 p.m. yesterday, Lake Louise RCMP launched a large-scale search for potential victims of an avalanche in the area.
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EMS reported another skier was left dead from an avalanche north of the Black Prince day-use area in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. She was brought to the ground by helicopter, where she was pronounced dead.
No other injuries were reported.
The identity of neither skier has been released.
On Mar. 14, mountain safety officials in Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, and Kananaskis Country warned of elevated avalanche risks due to recent heavy snowfall.
Banff and Jasper national parks were sitting at a "high" avalanche risk in the alpine elevation and "considerable" below the treeline.
According to a bulletin, human triggering remains very likely, and touchy slabs exist over very weak persistent layers.
"A widespread natural avalanche cycle has continued all week and natural activity remains possible this weekend," states the bulletin. "Stick to the basics: Stick to low-angle terrain well away from any avalanche terrain or steeper slopes."
Banff National Park has received 30-90 cm of snow in the past five days in some areas, increasing the risk of both natural and human-triggered avalanches.