A man had to be rescued off the cliff of Stawamus Chief’s third peak after leaping off Thursday afternoon.
A 42-year-old West Vancouver resident who was participating in the sport of speed flying was rescued off a ledge 40 metres below the peak after his chute malfunctioned on Dec. 4.
Squamish Search And Rescue (SAR) manager Katy Chambers said SAR received the call just before 1 p.m. and successfully rescued the man by 4:45 p.m.
“His chute had malfunctioned and he was stranded about 40 metres down from the top of the cliff on a little ledge,” she said. “We flew up 15 members and set up a rope rescue system to lower one of our members down to him.”
Chambers said the speed flyer was in good shape considering his precarious position.
“He was in stable condition and had no injuries,” she said. “He was very well prepared and had a heat blanket, food, water and was wearing personal protective equipment that prevented him from getting head injuries. He was in a relatively safe location, and it’s not like he was hanging out on a limb or anything.”
She said Squamish SAR is very well practiced with rope rescue, especially with incidents on the Stawamus Chief, but speed flying rescues only occur a few times a year.
“He was flying with two very experienced speed flyers and had a bit of hesitation before jumping,” she said. “As he was running toward the edge of the cliff, the hesitation created some asymmetrical inflation in his chute and it wasn’t perfectly symmetrical when he jumped off, which caused him to fly into the cliff and land 40 metres down.”
Chambers said the man had a few flights under his belt and was learning with two more experienced speed flyers when the accident occurred. She said the relatively new sport of speed flying has risks, and jumping off the Stawamus Chief is not for beginners.
“You have to have a lot of understanding of the physics of flying and have a few other jumps under your belt before you jump off the Chief,” she said. “We’re getting to know the speed flying community a little more and as the years go on we’re building a better relationship with them. Most of the members we’ve met are well educated and understand the risks involved.”
Thursday's call was the 74th call of the year for Squamish SAR. For more information on the volunteer driven organization, visit www.squamishsar.org.
