Major Rockfall in Banff Destroys Climb and Buries Trees

A huge rockfall in Banff has destroyed the start of a multi-pitch on Mount Rundle called the Ridge of Death, which was first climbed over 50 years ago. Several people were in the area, but Parks Canada said that everyone was accounted for.

Jordan Toth shared on Calgary Climbing Community Facebook page: “Witnessed this large rockfall on Rundle today. My husband and I had just started hiking up to climb Maclab Slab when a large section of the mountain cleaved off and came crashing into the Rundle rock crag area. We were lucky to be outside the debris path but immediately thought the worst and started calling out to see if anyone was hurt. Dug a guys backpack and his son’s shoes out of the rubble, luckily they were on top of the rock having lunch when it happened and are safe. EMS arrived pretty quickly after and closed the area. There was a party of climbers on the 5.4 route up Rundlehorn but seems they had climbed past that section before it fell as the official Parks notice says everyone has been accounted for and no injuries.”

The rockfall, which was really the collapse of the toe of a ridge, buried several tall trees and left behind debris and car-sized blocks. The area where the rockfall happened has several popular routes, including the Rundle Rock climbs, Rundlehorn, MacLab Slab, Sunriser, and Gold Rush. No climbs other than Ridge of Death looked impacted by the geologic event.

Parks Canada announced: The cause of the rockfall is not yet known. A large amount of rock came down, leaving a rockslide path with a significant number of boulders in the Rundle Rock climbing area. The immediately impacted area will remain closed until geotechnical assessment is complete. Parks Canada crews are on scene and will be conducting a geotechnical investigation of the area as soon as possible.

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