Avalanche death puts focus on safety

January 14, 2002
Source: Calgary Herald
Original story - link verified on January 14, 2002
By Lauren MacGillivray and Jodie Sinnema

A Jasper National Park warden, buried deep by an avalanche Saturday as he was conducting routine safety tests, died early Sunday morning. Mike Wynn, 37, leaves behind his wife Lori and a two-year-old son Joseph, who lived with him in the Jasper town site. "Everybody is taking a deep breath at the moment," said Rupert Wedgewood, an alpine specialist for the park and friend to Wynn. "Everyone is thinking of Mike's family. Our thoughts and prayers are going out to them. Everyone is pulling together as a team." A trust fund for the family has been set up at Jasper's Toronto Dominion Bank. The accident occurred on a weekend when backcountry enthusiasts, including the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, gathered in Banff and Lake Louise to promote avalanche safety. Justin Trudeau, whose brother Michel died in a British Columbia avalanche in 1998, said he heard about the Jasper incident late Saturday.

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