Climbers spend several nights caught in storm on Howse Peak in Banff National Park

“It was a big electrical storm. Their hair was standing up, everything was buzzing. One guy described his moustache as buzzing.”

LAKE LOUISE – A powerful storm thwarted rescue efforts of three experienced climbers stuck on Howse Peak in Banff National Park at the end of August, leaving them stranded near the summit of the 10,810-foot mountain for a few nights.

 

Parks Canada’s dispatch received a satellite communicator SOS on Saturday morning (Aug. 24) from climbers who had tackled the Northeast Buttress, a technical, multi-day alpine climb on Howse Peak, located about five kms west of the Icefields Parkway above Chephren Lake.

 

Rescuers say the climbers had made the summit in the dark the night before, on Friday (Aug. 23), but couldn’t descend because of a severe storm that struck region in the early evening, bringing snow, rain, wind and lightning.

 

Grant Statham, a visitor safety specialist for Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks, said it was a “violent thunder and lightning storm” and noted the climbers described it as “terrifying.”

 

“It was a big electrical storm. Their hair was standing up, everything was buzzing. One guy described his moustache as buzzing,” Statham said.

 

“I think it was really frightening.”

 

When the lightning began, Statham said the trio were quick to pull off all their metal climbing gear and hung it a distance away.

 

Statham said there was a short break in the weather, enough for the climbers to to get to the summit in the dark.

He said the climbers ended up bivouacking below the summit for the rest of the night as the storm raged on.

 

”It was still storming out and they couldn’t see anything,” he said.

 

“They had all the right equipment and they climbed under a tarp and kind of hunkered down and spent the rest of the night.”

 

The dramatic storm continued into Saturday morning and that was when the climbers put in the call for help.

 

Rescuers were quick to respond, however the ongoing poor weather thwarted the day-long efforts with visitor safety specialists and an Alpine Helicopters pilot to get them off the mountain.

 

“It was not too bad in the valley, but the summit of Howse Peak was just wrapped in this big, really kind of turbulent cloud and it just wouldn’t allow us to get in there,” Statham said.