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A skier died after falling into a pocket of deep snow in Banff over the weekend. The incident occurred at Sunshine Village Ski Resort on Saturday, just off the side of a beginner-level trail called Banff Avenue. The victim was a 47-year-old woman from Toronto, whom officials identified as Farah Merchant.
Merchant’s brother reportedly posted a tribute to her the next day, saying ““She was a loving and devoted mother to her son, Liam, a cherished daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, etc. She had a kind soul and touched so many lives with her love, warmth, and compassion. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her.”
The CBC reports that members of the resort’s ski patrol arrived on scene and attempted to resuscitate Merchant for two hours. The Calgary Herald adds that onlookers on the scene were the first to attempt to help Merchant and called on patrol for help. According to Kendra Scurfield, a Sunshine Village Ski Resort spokesperson, ski patrol arrived within three minutes of that call.
On Monday, Sunshine Village shared a video to social media reporting on the recent snow conditions, saying the resort is “on record watch.”
“We’ve received a lot of new snow in the last two weeks, bringing our snowfall total for December up to 269 centimeters,” a member of the snow safety team says. That number makes this the second deepest December on record, they add.
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