A wall of white — that’s what Bryon Howard saw coming toward him on Friday evening when he was out for a family run at Lake Louise.
Howard was running just ahead of his wife and son — not far from Chateau Lake Louise — when an avalanche was triggered above.
“There’s this wall of snow barrelling towards me,” Howard said Monday. “And so that’s when I started to run.”
Howard said he was running hard and at one point felt he was starting to be engulfed by the force of snow getting closer and closer.
“I was constantly on the edge of it, running out of it,” he said.
Howard’s son Jacob said the sound of the avalanche was very loud.
“I could see snow falling down the hill,” Jacob said. “And so I was like, ‘Oh no, I hope my parents aren’t too far ahead of me. It seemed dangerous.”
Howard posted the video of the incident — which he said was all over within about 90 seconds — on avalanche.ca to make others aware and take precautions when exploring and taking in the Rocky Mountains.
According to Michael Schoemaker of Canadian Scrambling and Mountaineering, the avalanche didn’t appear to be a large one, however, it still could have injured or buried someone.
“It was crazy to experience that,” Howard said. “Next time, it’s obvious that runners — trail runners — have to be cautious of the dangers of mountain environments.”
–With files from Global News’ Gil Tucker
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