Whenever a life is lost in the mountains, it feels especially heartbreaking. For many people, the outdoors is where they find peace, challenge and connection, while for others, these are trips they have dreamed about for years. When an adventure ends in tragedy, it serves as a sobering reminder that even the places we love most deserve our respect.
This year, there have been a number of tragic accidents during backcountry hikes. While the loss of Golden resident Bob Toothill weighs heavily on the hearts of our community, there are others mourning loved ones lost on the trails this year as well.
Just in the past few weeks, a 65-year-old Calgary man died after slipping while descending Mount Temple in Banff National Park, and a woman in her 20s died after falling during a remote hike near Marvel Peak. Earlier this summer, a 47-year-old woman from Airdrie lost her life after falling on Mount Bryant in Kananaskis. One common thread connecting several of these tragedies is that they involved falls on steep mountain terrain.
When stories like these make headlines, it can be tempting to assume they involved inexperienced hikers or visitors who underestimated the mountains. Sometimes that may be true. But recent incidents also remind us that experience alone cannot eliminate risk. Katie Heaven, who died on Mount Bryant in June, was widely described by friends as an experienced mountaineer who had already climbed dozens of peaks this year.
Mountains have a way of humbling everyone. Loose rock doesn’t know whether you’ve climbed one peak or one hundred. Weather changes without asking how experienced you are, and fatigue can affect seasoned mountaineers just as much as first-time hikers. One lapse in concentration or one unstable foothold can have life-changing consequences.
That is why understanding the difference between hiking and scrambling is so important.
While often grouped together, hiking and scrambling are not the same activity. Hiking typically follows established trails where the primary challenge is distance and elevation gain. Scrambling, on the other hand, involves travelling over steep, rocky terrain where hikers frequently need to use their hands for balance or to climb over obstacles. Routes are often less defined, exposure to steep drop-offs is greater, and loose rock can make footing unpredictable.
Even for experienced hikers, scrambling presents a different level of risk. Exhaustion, changing weather, loose terrain or a single misstep during a descent can quickly turn a routine outing into an emergency, which is why many mountain accidents occur on scrambling routes rather than traditional hiking trails.
There are certainly ways to reduce the risk. Choosing routes that match your experience, wearing appropriate footwear, checking trail and weather conditions, carrying the proper equipment and knowing when to turn around all improve your odds. But none of those things can remove risk entirely, and acknowledging that reality is part of travelling safely in the mountains.
Living in a mountain town means accepting a certain contradiction. We celebrate adventure because it enriches our lives, challenges us and connects us to incredible places.
Yet those same mountains ask something of us in return. They ask us to be prepared, to respect changing conditions and to remember that experience is never a substitute for humility.
Every time we head into the backcountry, we accept a degree of uncertainty. Perhaps the goal is not to remove all risk, because that is impossible, but to approach every adventure with the respect these mountains deserve.
