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Scramblers rescued from Cascade

Two inexperienced scramblers were rescued from Cascade Falls near Banff late Friday night (Aug. 5) after getting themselves stranded on an unstable ledge.
Visitor Safety Specialist Lisa Paulson drills an anchor before climbing to stranded scramblers near Cascade Falls, Friday (Aug. 5).
Visitor Safety Specialist Lisa Paulson drills an anchor before climbing to stranded scramblers near Cascade Falls, Friday (Aug. 5).

Two inexperienced scramblers were rescued from Cascade Falls near Banff late Friday night (Aug. 5) after getting themselves stranded on an unstable ledge.

In a dramatic nighttime technical rescue, Banff’s fire department lit up the falls with strong lights to guide Parks Canada’s rescue specialists to the two stranded scramblers.

“They got themselves into a bit of a pickle and were unable to go up or down,” said Lisa Paulson, a visitor safety specialist for Banff National Park. “They did not have any climbing experience, they had no ropes and they were wearing only shorts, T-shirts and running shoes.”

Cascade Falls on Cascade Mountain, visible from the Trans-Canada Highway, are approximately 300 metres high – and the two scramblers got stuck about 50 metres from the top of waterfall.

One of the men called his wife on his cell phone to raise the alarm, and she in turn called in the rescue team.

By this time, it was simply too dark to mount a helicopter sling rescue. Paulson and rescue partners Aaron Beardmore and Steve Holeczi decided to climb to the scramblers.

“I had a good discussion with them on their phone about how good the ledge was and whether they would be able to stay the night and we’d pick them up the next morning in the helicopter,” said Paulson.

“But they quite clearly stated the ledge was down-sloping and wasn’t secure, and they didn’t feel very secure staying the night, especially if they nodded off a bit.”

Paulson said the Banff fire department was called in to help light up the falls, and the rescue team was able to climb to the stranded scramblers by around midnight.

She said the rescuers were able to scramble up through the trees and into some scramble terrain, but got to a climbing pitch about 40 metres below where the two men were perched.

“We put in a bolted station and actually put in a few bolts on lead to get to them, so they had actually covered some pretty serious ground,” she said. “When we got there, we suited them up with harnesses and helmets and a bit of warm clothing and proceeded to lower them down the right hand side.”

Paulson said the two men were relieved to see their rescuers.

“They were relieved that they weren’t having to stay overnight,” she said. “When we got to the ledge it was quite clear it was not a very good ledge and we were all very happy that we got them off that ledge.”

One of the men works in Banff, while his friend was visiting from Manitoba. They were both in the early 20s.

Parks Canada reminds people to use caution when scrambling the local peaks.

“It’s kind of the classic scrambling scenario,” said Paulson. “When you have minimal experience, it’s easy to misjudge terrain. You might find you can climb up easily, but then reversing is way more difficult.”


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