Lake Louise avalanche victims not heard from in 7 days: RCMP

The father and son from Montreal killed in an avalanche in Lake Louise, Alta., had not been heard from in seven days, say local RCMP.

They were reported missing on March 14 after failing to check out of the Chateau Lake Louiseand RCMP then requested the help of Parks Canada Search and Rescue personnel to help look for the two Saturday afternoon. However, they had last been spoken to on March 9 when they rented their toboggan from the hotel.

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RCMP say it's not clear when the avalanche was triggered but the area where they were found is not well used.

"We do have a lot of users that go for a walk or travel up and down the right hand side," said Bill Hunt, a resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. "These folks had wandered over to the left hand side of the lake under some fairly steep slopes."

A Parks Canada dog handler found the victims buried under debris at the base of Mount Fairview on the shore of Lake Louise.

Their names are being withheld pending notification of their next of kin.

It`s been a bad weekend for snow slides.

A 36-year-old man from Lloydminster, Sask., died of injuries he suffered Friday night in an avalanche near Blue River, B.C., about halfway between Kamloops and Jasper, Alta.

And a 38-year-old man from Calgary was critically injured Saturday when he and some fellow skiers triggered an avalanche in Alberta's Banff National Park.

Park officials in Banff say they work hard to let people know about avalanche dangers but the recent incidents prove they need to look at ways to better convey that information.

The avalanche forecast is currently rated as high throughout the mountain parks in the area due to warm weather making the snow pack unstable.