Three world-renowned professional mountaineers killed by an avalanche in the Canadian Rocky Mountains had reached the summit of difficult Howse Peak and lost their lives on the descent, Parks Canada has said.
The mountaineers, Jess Roskelley, 36, of the United States, and Austrians Hansjorg Auer, 35, and David Lama, 28, disappeared last week on a climbing expedition at the east face of Howse Peak, a particularly tough summit in Alberta's Banff National Park.
The federal agency, Parks Canada, announced Sunday that their bodies had been found.
"While details are limited, the Roskelley family confirmed that the three climbers were successful at summiting Howse Peak," Parks Canada said in a statement read during a telephone press conference on Monday.
The agency described the east face of the Peak as "remote and an exceptionally difficult objective, with mixed rock and ice routes requiring advanced alpine mountaineering skills."
Brian Webster, a Parks Canada official, added that the trio had "summited at noon and were descending when the accident happened."
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