Uh Oh! A "Controlled" Avalanche In Alberta Completely Buried A Major Highway

The slide left a big chunk of the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park buried in 15 metres of snow.

This is what it looked like after Parks Canada triggered a "controlled" avalanche in Banff National Park this week.

Banff National Park / Facebook

According to Parks Canada, crews were doing "routine avalanche control" but the resulting snow buried a section of Highway 93 North, known as the Icefields Parkway.

Here's an aerial view of the blocked highway.

Banff National Park / Facebook

According to the Calgary Herald, the avalanche was triggered by dropping explosives from a helicopter onto Mount Hector. The resulting slide was much larger than expected, with ice, snow, and trees measuring an estimated 100 metres long and 15 metres deep.

As if Friday afternoon, authorities had no estimated time for when the highway would re-open.

Oops.

Sunwapta Falls Rocky Mountain Lodge / Via Facebook: SunwaptaFalls