The Montreal father and son who were killed by an avalanche while vacationing in Alberta have been identified as Gabriel Mironov, 33, and his 11-year-old son Oliver.

Their bodies were discovered buried in snow on Saturday March 15, one day after they were reported missing because they had failed to check out of their hotel.

It was later determined they were last seen on Sunday March 9 when they rented a toboggan at their hotel, the Chateau Lake Louise.

Mironov was the president of GM Rail, a company and General Manager of EFI S.A., and had a history of working at wind technology companies.

Oliver was a student at Selwyn House and a fan of making stop-action movies with Lego.

The slope where they were found is known to be a high-risk avalanche zone, however no signs were posted to alert visitors of danger to that specific area.

Gregor Resch, the general manager of the hotel, said the guests may not have been aware of the avalanche risk.

"We don't post the avalanche ratings every day. We advise our guests of the avalanche conditions depending on the conversations we are having with them," said Resch.

One person who taught Oliver was devastated when he heard the news.

"I heard the name and I was in denial this morning. I didn't want to think that was the Oliver that we knew," said Nigel Penney Director of the Westmount Science Camp.

"I think what stood out first was when I saw his father bring him to camp. They obviously had a wonderful father-son relationship. You could see they had that special bond, they were on the same wavelength. They were clearly in tune doing stuff, inquiring and it was lovely."

People in mountains need to take care

Bill Hunt, a Resource Conservation Manager at Parks Canada Banff National Park, said people in the mountains have to make the effort to be aware of danger.

"We advise visitors to know before you go, so we really encourage people to seek out information by talking to our information centres or experts," said Hunt, who notes that signage on the highway indicates that there is a general risk of avalanches.

Hotel staffers, equipment rental staffers and radio reports are also employed to share information about the danger of avalanches but it's doubtful that the father and son were aware of the risk.

"Presumably they wouldn’t have gone there had they had any perception of the risk," Hunt told CTV Montreal.

The incident has led officials to rethink the warning system.

“We are having those discussions internally and we will be working with our other partners, hotels and motels those who are involved in renting equipment to visitors and really trying to find new ways of reaching those people," said Hunt.