As the snow began to pile up last week, two of Parks Canada’s snowplows ended up in the ditch – one on Monday and the other on Wednesday.

Marion Lee, manager of highway services, said in both cases, the drivers were plowing the shoulder of the road and had their front right wheel go off the road, causing the machine to tip.

On Monday, Nov. 21, the driver was proceeding north on Highway 93. 

Lee said once his wheel was off the paved portion of the road, momentum pulled the plow over the edge and onto its side.

She said the driver sustained minor injuries, while the damage to the plow was extensive.

“Because it flopped over on its side, there’s some significant, I would say, powertrain damage.”

The extent of the damage hasn’t yet been assessed, so Lee said she wasn’t sure if the plow – one of five tandem-axle plows owned by the park – would be back on the road this season.

The plow that ended up in the ditch on Wednesday, Nov. 23, on the other hand, will be functional, she said.

Last Wednesday was the day that Jasper received a huge dump of snow.

Lee said it was because of that lack of visibility that the driver of the second plow went off the road.

“He was going at a very, very slow speed, but just lost awareness of exactly where the edge of the road was and again dropped his front wheel off the pavement into the ditch and basically the truck tipped over and leaned up against the bank.”

The driver, who had no injuries, was plowing south of the Icefields, in an area referred to as the Big Bend, when the incident occurred. 

Lee said it’s very rare that a plow goes off the road and it’s even more rare for there to be two incidents in the same week.

“I’ve been here four and a half years, this has never happened since I’ve been here,” she said. “I would say the last time anything similar happened in Jasper was over six years ago. It’s very, very rare. 

“It’s very freaky to have two happen within such a short period of time.”

The plows were three or four years old. Brand new they’re worth about $200,000.

Jasper National Park owns one grader and six plows, five tandem and one single-axle.

Lee said although it’s inconvenient to be down a plow, all of the roads will still be plowed.

“I’ve got an extremely strong crew and an extremely talented mechanical staff, so while it will be, obviously, it’ll be inconvenient, but we’ll absolutely be able to overcome it.”