A Squamish man died Sunday night speed flying off of the Stawamus Chief.
Kyle MacDonald-Wolochatiuk, 40, died after hitting the ground when he encountered problems in a speed-flying session at about 6:15 p.m. Sunday, according to Barbara McLintock, a spokesperson for the B.C. coroner’s office.
“He took off from the First Peak of the Stawamus Chief in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, but soon into the descent, contacted a tree and then fell about 500 metres to the bottom of the cliff. He was deceased at the scene,” McLintock said via news release.
Speed flying is an extreme sport similar to paragliding but with a smaller wing designed for a faster descent.
Originally from Ontario, MacDonald-Wolochatiuk had been living in Squamish with his wife Krista Besner, who is due to deliver a child Wednesday, according to The Seaway News. He formerly lived in Williamstown near Cornwall, Ont.
MacDonald-Wolochatiuk’s sister Kara was killed 20 years ago, according to the paper, where MacDonald-Wolochatiuk’s father Nick is a columnist.
“One life has just been ended, and another is on its way to take his place,” the father is quoted as saying in The Seaway News.
The BC Coroners Service and RCMP continue to investigate this death, according to McLintock.
“On behalf of family members, the BC Coroners Service asks that the media respect their privacy at this difficult time,” she said.
Friends of the couple have set up a fundraising site for Besner in memory of MacDonald-Wolochatiuk on You Caring.
In September 2013, a 36-year-old man died in a paragliding accident at the Stawamus Chief.
