BASE jumper rescued from Stawamus Chief after crashing into cliff

A BASE jumper was rescued from a ledge after he crashed on the Stawamus Chief Saturday morning.

The 30-year-old male made a “hard landing” against the wall of the cliff and became stranded on a ledge about 60 metres from the ground.

He was not seriously injured.

Squamish Search and Rescue were alerted around 7 a.m., and it took about 30 volunteers around eight hours to get the man to the ground.

Rescuers were flown to the top of the mountain by helicopter, then lowered down to the BASE jumper. They secured and lowered him to the ground using ropes.

B.J. Chute, manager with Squamish Search and Rescue, told CTV News the operation was “highly technical” and “very labour-intensive,” especially because of the amount of equipment and personnel involved in this type of rescue.

He urges adventure-seekers to be prepared when heading out into the wilderness this summer.

“It would do well for the people who are recreating to ensure they are well prepared to be out in the elements,” Chute said. “We want people to be prepared to be on their own for a significant amount of time while the search and rescue teams access them.”

He said Saturday’s rescue was the team’s fourth in the past three days. On Friday night, someone fell on the Chief’s trails and it took six hours to get them out.

“The more prepared people are, the more people understand just how difficult it can be to access them and how time consuming it can be to get them out, I think the better prepared they can be,” Chute said.

The rescue was the team’s 37th since January 1.