A solo scrambler on Mount Lawrence Grassi suffered serious injuries after falling over a 50-foot cliff on Saturday evening (July 19).
Public Safety Specialist Jeremy MacKenzie said rescuers were alerted to the single male’s situation at 5:50 p.m. – the climber was descending the mountain, drastically off route, when he fell.
“He suffered serious injuries to his torso and his legs and was able to make a broken cellphone call for help, which got us started and then our dispatch centre continued to try and raise him on that phone,” MacKenzie said. “The messages kept getting dropped because of poor cell service, but eventually we were able to locate him from the helicopter.
“We heli-slung in three rescuers to get access to him because he was in a very precarious spot and we packaged him and flew him out to the ambulance, which then transferred him to STARS.”
Along with MacKenzie, Alpine Helicopters lifted public safety specialists Mike Koppang and Matt Mueller onto the mountain while Conservation Officer Christine Scotland was at the staging area.
MacKenzie said dispatchers worked hard to get the fallen climber’s information and keep him calm.
“He was continuing to say he was slipping off the mountain, so they were doing their best to manage that situation,” he said.
The fact that the cellphone had reception, if somewhat broken, may have saved his life. MacKenzie said any lower on the mountain and the signal would be lost and he is not sure the man in his early ‘20s would have made it through the night.
“People have to realize it is important to consider other communication devices if you are going to be in an area that is not well covered by cellphones,” he said.
In addition to relying on a cellphone, MacKenzie said it was concerning the scrambler was alone, which is not usually the best if you have an incident of any sort, and he did not tell anyone where he was going or when he would get back.
Also on Saturday, a man in his early ‘20s descended the wrong way on Yamnuska and tumbled down a scree slope.
“It sounds like he may have gone over a small low angle cliff, we’re not entirely sure on that and he suffered fairly minor injuries to much of his body; lots of scrapes and cuts and bruises,” MacKenzie said. “He also said he hit his head, but did not lose consciousness.”
Due to winds, Alpine landed at West Col and a rescuer walked over to the patient and evaluated him. He was able to walk back to the helicopter and was lifted to the base of the mountain where EMS assessed him and he was released.
