A rockfall that killed two hikers and injured three others at Banff’s Bow Glacier Falls dominated the news on Thursday, June 19. The event was of particular interest to us since it was one of the first trails we documented and measured for the first edition of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide.
Yours truly at the base of Bow Glacier Falls during our first measurement of the trail. Bart Robinson photo.
In those days, the trail began behind Jimmy Simpson’s Num-Ti-Jah Lodge and ended on a moraine at km 3.4, where there was an excellent view of the falls across a barren basin of ground moraine. Since we knew hikers would likely want to visit the base of the waterfall, we wheeled the trail-less stretch across the rocky basin to the bottom of the falls.
Jimmy Simpson, who was still alive in those days, would’ve known the basin when it was still filled with ice from the Bow Glacier, which cascaded over the cliff. Since that time, the glacier retreated back above the cliff and was drained by a single waterfall, which came to be known as Bow Glacier Falls.
But I never considered Bow Glacier Falls a real waterfall. Unlike nearly every other falls in the Mountain Parks, it only existed during the past 70 or 80 years. Most glaciers in retreat do so over more gentle terrain. However, the Bow Glacier is unusual in that it receded above a cliff—a very fragile limestone precipice.
The Bow Glacier in 1924. The icefall was destined to be replaced by a waterfall after it retreated above the cliff. Byron Harmon photo.
A popular trail in the selfie age
The trail to the glacier’s terminal moraine undoubtedly existed soon after the glacier retreated above the cliff. And since Num-Ti-Jah Lodge was completed in the late 1930s and the Banff-Jasper Highway was opened in 1940, it was a popular place to stretch your legs on an easy, relatively flat half-day hike.
We hiked the trail numerous times after that first visit. When Parks Canada created a new trailhead along the lodge access road, we remeasured the trail. In the years since we first rolled the track, hikers wore a decent trail across the ground moraine to the base of the falls, so we measured that as well.
That was the last time we hiked the trail. In the meantime, the internet age dawned and soon after the popularity of “selfie” photography. As we discovered on other popular day hikes, visitors were clambering to higher viewpoints to get better photos. This was true on trails like Kootenay Park’s Stanley Glacier and Kindersley Pass and Jasper’s Bald Hills Lookout.
So many hikers pushed beyond our “official” trails that tracks were worn into the landscape. In some cases, Parks Canada needed to provide signage to direct travel on these emerging trails.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
When the news broke about the rockfall at Bow Glacier Falls, we knew there would likely be photographs from the scene. Little did we know that there would be video of the rockslide itself.
Other amazing facts: The number of people hiking the trail mid-June. By one individual’s estimate, there were 15 to 20 people at trail’s end on mid-day, June 19, most of them on the bluffs adjacent to the waterfall, well beyond the end of trail.
Another remarkable fact was the number of people who were travelling with satellite communication devices. These are not inexpensive units, particularly with subscription fees. But as a result of numerous transmitted messages, Parks Canada was on the scene with emergency personnel in just over an hour after the rockfall.
Coverage of the rockfall was everywhere on TV and the internet, though it wasn’t unexpected. Interviews with survivors on the scene were lengthy and detailed.
And one other thing that should have been expected—a major rockfall at this relatively recent landscape feature would occur.
0 Comments