Our thoughts are with her family and everyone who loved her.
A woman in her 20s died Tuesday afternoon after falling near Marvel Peak, in the far southern end of Banff National Park, about three kilometres from the Continental Divide.
Canmore RCMP were called around 4 p.m. to assist Parks Canada. Detachment commander Staff Sgt. Greg Tulloch said four people were on a multi-day backcountry trip, completing what was intended to be a loop, when the woman lost her footing and fell a couple of hundred metres.
"The nature of the fall was essentially one that was unsurvivable," Tulloch said.
Her companions climbed down to her and attempted first aid. They used an emergency satellite messaging device to call for help.
She has not been named. RCMP say they will not be releasing further details about her or about the fall.
Wind stopped the helicopter
Parks Canada deployed rescue resources by air. Strong winds kept the aircraft from reaching the scene.
Alberta Health Services was asked to stage paramedics at the Mount Shark helipad at about 3:30 p.m. for an incident to the west, on Marvel Peak. AHS public education officer Stuart Brideaux said in an email to the Rocky Mountain Outlook that Parks later cancelled the EHS response and the scene was left in Parks Canada's care. Paramedics never made contact with her.
STARS air ambulance was alerted and put on standby, then stood down before takeoff. STARS communications specialist Kate Langille confirmed the crew was not required for patient transport.
She was recovered Wednesday morning and taken to Canmore, then on to Calgary for the medical examiner.
Parks Canada's Banff field unit did not respond to questions from CBC News or the Rocky Mountain Outlook.
Where this happened, and why it took until morning
Marvel Peak is a 2,650-metre summit above Marvel Lake, in a corner of the park with no road access of any kind.
RCMP have not identified the exact route, but the details they have given point to the standard Mount Assiniboine circuit. That loop starts at the Mount Shark trailhead in Kananaskis Country, runs up Bryant Creek and over Assiniboine Pass into British Columbia, then returns to Alberta over Wonder Pass, dropping through switchbacks into Banff National Park above Marvel Lake before the long walk out. A party coming from the B.C. side on a loop, near Marvel Peak, would have been on that return leg.
The stretch from Wonder Pass back to the trailhead is roughly 25 kilometres. Guidebooks put it at nine to ten hours on the descent.
So when the call went out Tuesday afternoon, the nearest road was most of a day's walk away, over a mountain pass, from three people who had just watched their friend die. There was no drive-in option and no realistic carry-out. A helicopter was the response, and when the wind picked up there was no second answer.
That gap is not a failure of anyone's planning. Marvel Lake is a well-established backpacking destination with reservable campgrounds and a maintained trail. It is also a place where a serious accident late in the day can mean waiting for the weather to turn.
The device worked
One detail deserves attention, because it is the part that did what it was supposed to.
The group carried an emergency satellite messaging device and used it. There is no cell service anywhere in that valley. Without it, someone in that party would have had to walk out over a pass, for hours, in the dark, to report what happened, and Parks Canada would not have known there was an emergency until well into the night.
It did not change the outcome. Tulloch was clear that the fall itself was not survivable, and no response time would have altered that. But it is the difference between a rescue attempt starting within minutes and one starting the next day, and on this kind of terrain that distinction usually matters enormously.
A second death in the park in four days
On Saturday evening, a 65-year-old Calgary man died after slipping and falling on the Mount Temple scrambling route above Moraine Lake. Parks Canada visitor safety specialists reached him by helicopter and airlifted him to a staging area, where he was pronounced dead. Lake Louise RCMP estimated the fall at about 200 metres. He was also hiking with a group, and that group was also able to call for help.
Parks Canada publishes current trail conditions and closures for Banff National Park. The public safety line for the mountain parks is 403-762-4506.
Sources:
Canmore RCMP, Staff Sgt. Greg Tulloch, statements to media, July 29, 2026
Alberta Health Services, Emergency Medical Services, statement from Stuart Brideaux, July 28, 2026
STARS Air Ambulance, statement from Kate Langille, July 29, 2026
Parks Canada, Banff National Park trail conditions and public safety (parkscanada.gc.ca/banff)
BC Parks, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park trail information
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