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Canada avalanche: Three professional climbers believed killed in Rockies | Canada avalanche: Three professional climbers believed killed in Rockies |
(32 minutes later) | |
Three professional climbers are presumed dead in an avalanche in the Canadian Rockies, authorities say. | |
The three mountaineers were attempting to scale Howse Peak and failed to check in on schedule. | |
National park staff flew over the area where they were climbing and saw evidence of "avalanches and debris containing climbing equipment". | National park staff flew over the area where they were climbing and saw evidence of "avalanches and debris containing climbing equipment". |
Parks Canada recovery efforts are on hold because of dangerous conditions and additional avalanches at the scene. | Parks Canada recovery efforts are on hold because of dangerous conditions and additional avalanches at the scene. |
Those efforts are likely to be further hampered by inclement weather in the coming days. | Those efforts are likely to be further hampered by inclement weather in the coming days. |
The North Face identified the men as David Lama and Hansjoerg Auer from Austria, and Jess Roskelley, from the US. | |
The three were part of the outdoor apparel company's global athlete team and the firm said in a statement it was doing everything it could to support their families, friends and the climbing community. | |
"We ask that you keep our athletes and their loved ones in your hearts and thoughts," it said in an emailed statement to the BBC. | |
The three climbers went missing when they were attempting to scale the east side of Howse Peak, which Parks Canada described as a "remote and an exceptionally difficult objective, with mixed rock and ice routes requiring advanced alpine mountaineering skills". | |
Howse Peak, with a 3,295 metre (10,800 foot) elevation, is in the Canadian province of Alberta, in Banff National Park. | |
Mr Roskelley, 36, originally from Spokane, Washington state, scaled Mount Everest at age 20. | |
Himself the son of a famous mountaineer, he was the youngest American to reach the summit of the world's highest peak in 2003. | |
He was climbing in Canada with Mr Auer, 35, and Mr Lama, 28, both of whom were also known for a number of notable ascents around the globe. | |
Parks Canada also extended its condolences to the families, friends and loved ones of the mountaineers. |