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Mountaineers pulled from B.C. peak during historic heli rescue

Two stranded mountaineers were plucked from Mount Goodsir in what is believed to be the highest helicopter sling rescue in the history of the mountain national parks. The Alberta men, both in their 40s, spent Saturday night (Aug.

Two stranded mountaineers were plucked from Mount Goodsir in what is believed to be the highest helicopter sling rescue in the history of the mountain national parks.

The Alberta men, both in their 40s, spent Saturday night (Aug. 13) on the 3,567-metre South Tower of Goodsir, one of B.C.’s highest mountains, after failing to find a safe way down the day before.

Alpine Helicopters pilot Lance Cooper slung rescuer Steve Holeczi on a long line to the climbers, then hovered the chopper for about 25 seconds while he clipped the two men onto the line, too.

Parks Canada officials say it is the highest elevation rescue involving the helicopter sling rescue technique on record for Banff, Yoho or Kootenay national parks.

“The pilot deserves a lot of credit on this one. He did a really good job up there,” said Holeczi, noting the climbers were uninjured and in good spirits.

“It’s not so much the altitude, but there’s strong winds up high and for him to be able to pinpoint the location and put me on a very narrow ridge is not easy.”

The two climbers used a satellite beacon to sound the alarm when they realized they were stuck on a rocky ridge on the South Tower of Goodsir, the highest peak in the Ottertail Range in Yoho National Park.

To accurately assess the situation, Holeczi said the pilot initially landed the helicopter in a meadow about 1,850 metres below where the climbers were stranded.

“I then went up on the long line and Lance was able to get me right onto the ridge. I wasn’t there for very long, maybe about 25 seconds,” he said.

“I stayed on the long line and they scrambled over me to me. I clipped them both on the belay loops on their harnesses and Lance pulled us off.”

Cooper described the rescue as “interesting” but wanted to stress all mountain rescues are a team effort between the pilot and rescue specialists.

“It was a little windy up there and we didn’t want to let the rescuer off the line, so we had to sit there holding him while he hooked them on,” he said.

“It’s the highest rescue I’ve done personally and I’ve done a lot. It was more the wind situation and it was a pretty narrow area to put him in. It was interesting.”

Holeczi said the mountaineers had intended to traverse the Goodsir peaks, so fortunately, they were properly equipped with overnight gear and food.

Despite the unusual snow conditions for this time of year, he said they made it to the summit and attempted to continue the traverse because they didn’t have a bivouac spot to camp the night.

“They said it was getting a little bit hairy. It was getting later and there was not much daylight, so they decided to spend the night on or near the summit,” he said.

“The next morning they tried to reverse what they came up, but they found it more difficult going down than coming up, and couldn’t find any anchors to rappel off so they initiated their SPOT beacon.”

In other rescue news on the weekend, Parks Canada’s rescue team was called to an incident involving an experienced mountaineer falling into a crevasse on Mount Aberdeen on Saturday (Aug. 13).

Aaron Beardmore, a visitor safety specialist, said a party of three, all on rope, was on the north glacier when the leader of the group fell into a crevasse.

Beardmore said the group – all in their 30s from southeastern B.C. – did not have a cell phone, but activated their SPOT device. Word of the mishap reached the rescuers within 40 minutes.

“He caught his crampon on the edge and broke his leg on the way down. It’s not clear how far he fell, but I think less than two metres,” he said.

“He was roped and his partners successfully extracted him out of the crevasse. They did everything correctly in regards to glacier travel.” The injured man was taken by Banff EMS to Mineral Springs Hospital.

Also on the weekend, rescue specialists plucked three stranded scramblers off Mount Rundle just below a feature known as Dragon’s Back, where the route narrows between two steep gullies.

The three men had been traversing Mount Rundle from Canmore to Banff when they dropped their rope and ran into some difficulty finding the right route.

“They were requesting a rescue, but by that time it was dark and I indicated they would have to spend the night and we would be there at first light,” said Beardmore.

Beardmore said rescuers used the scramblers’ cell phone GPS to pinpoint their location, then told them to turn off their phone until 5 a.m. to save the battery.

The men were from the Calgary area in their late 30s.

“They were fairly experienced and they had warm clothing,” he said. “They were fine.”


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