A 45 year-old Calgary woman has died following a collision with an oncoming bus on January 15, just outside Radium Resort at the top of Mile Hill.

According to Columbia Valley RCMP Staff Sergeant Marko Shehovac, at approximately 4:15 p.m. a Ford Taurus driven by the deceased headed toward Radium lost control and began to fishtail into the lane of oncoming traffic, into the path of an oncoming bus.

The bus, carrying only the driver, attempted to avoid the Taurus by driving off the highway on the right-hand side, but was unsuccessful.

The Taurus then struck the bus and careened off the opposite side of the road. The female driver was taken to hospital in Invermere, where she was pronounced dead. The driver of the bus was not injured.

Roads were extremely slick at the time of the crash, following the heavy snowfall the night before.

“For the road conditions that were present that evening, she probably came around that corner — is what we’re guessing — too fast to negotiate the turn,” said RCMP Cpl. Shane Parker.

The resulting accident scene backed up traffic in both directions, with cars lined up for nearly a kilometre coming from Invermere. The highway was closed for several hours as RCMP and local fire and rescue teams investigated the scene.

Road conditions are expected to continue to deteriorate over the next several days, as B.C. is hit with a large swath of winter weather.

At press time, the name of the deceased had not been released by RCMP. The investigation into the crash is ongoing. Parker says alcohol was determined not be a factor.