Slide kills Waterton snowboarder

A backcountry snowboarder from Lethbridge, Alberta, died in an avalanche at Waterton Lakes National Park on Saturday, according to the Lethbridge Herald.

Wade Galloway, 37, who served on the Lethbridge City Council, was snowboarding with a friend near Rowe Peak in Waterton when he was caught in the slide Saturday afternoon.

According to the Herald, Parks Canada said in a news release that Galloway’s companion was not buried by the avalanche and was able to locate and partially extricate Galloway. Resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.

Galloway’s family, through the city of Lethbridge, issued a statement on Monday.

“We have been informed that recovery efforts are being hampered by extremely high winds and unstable snow conditions,” the statement said. “As a result, the recovery may not be completed until later this week. Our family is in shock, and we are devastated by this loss.”

Galloway, who was a married father of two, was elected to the council in October 2013. He was a driving force for Lethbridge’s new skatepark and an advocate for downtown revitalization, the Herald said.

He was well-known as an avid snowboarder and for his active fundraising with avalanche rescue organizations.

At Waterton Lakes, a sister park to Glacier National Park, the avalanche danger is high.

“A good time to avoid avalanche terrain,” a Waterton avalanche bulletin says. “With more snow and wind in the forecast, the touchy conditions will continue to deteriorate as the potential size of natural avalanches increase.”

South of the U.S.-Canadian border, the Flathead Avalanche Center expanded its avalanche warning Tuesday morning to cover all avalanche terrain in Northwest Montana.

The danger is rated as high because of heavy snowfall that fell even at low elevations Tuesday morning, along with strong winds and continued heavy snowfall in the forecast. More than a foot of snow fell in many areas by Tuesday morning.

“Very dangerous avalanche conditions exist,” the advisory states. “Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended and avalanche runout zones should be avoided.”

The avalanche center noted that the slide danger also is high in the Kootenai National Forest following “very heavy” snowfall.

Over the weekend, four snowmobilers escaped an avalanche in the Canyon Creek drainage north of Big Mountain, and avalanche activity was observed in the John F. Stevens Canyon area west of Marias Pass along the southern boundary of Glacier National Park.

The advisory was scheduled to be updated again by 7 a.m. today. It can be found online at: http://www.flatheadavalanche.org.