One of two injured ice climbers rescued after an avalanche died in a Calgary hospital Wednesday.

The 37-year-old man was climbing with a partner on Mount Sparrowhawk on Monday in Kananaskis Country when they fell in an avalanche of ice and snow.

They survived more than 20 hours in freezing temperatures before rescuers reached them.

The Calgary man suffered serious injuries and died in hospital Wednesday, said RCMP. His family asked the police not to release his name.

The other climber, a 45-year-old man from Winnipeg, is still being treated in hospital for his injuries.

Kananaskis is a provincial park located 80 kilometres west of Calgary.

It was with great sadness I turned over the paper this morning to find out that it was my buddy Colin Wooldridge who passes away from injuries sustained from being avalanched 200m down the mountain. Although I haven’t climbed with Colin in a couple years I’ll miss those random chance meetings in the mountain where we used to catch up and find out what each other were up to over the past few months of climbing.

Rest peacefully my friend.




Colin’s partner, Brian McMillan (from Winnipeg), that day is still in Hospital (in Canmore I believe) with severe injuries. I wish him my condolences and a speedy recovery.

We provide you with this account of the incident in an effort to clarify any misinformation that has already appeared or may be appearing in any media communications. Tom Schnugg and I were on a climbing weekend with Colin and Brian. We did not join them on this day and reported their delay. We have followed the incident very closely. This account has been created with Brian McMillan and includes some information that we have obtained from the rescue team.

Respectfully,

Lyle Rotter.

*****


Colin Wooldridge of Calgary and Brian McMillan of Winnipeg were climbing the Read's Tower gulley in the Mount Sparrowhawk area of Kananaskis on Monday, November 12, when, on the final portion of the route, a cornice collapse and/or avalanche swept the two down the entire length of the route, approximately 200 meters. They spent the night at the base due to injuries sustained during the fall.

When the party's return became overdue that evening, the K-Country Parks Rescue team was notified. They were heli-evac'd the next morning. Brian is recovering in the hospital and a full recovery is expected. Unfortunately, Colin died from his injuries the next day at the hospital.

Brian wishes to remind all of us climbers of the importance of leaving climbing intentions with a contact who is sure to follow up in the case of an event.