A 60-year-old man suffered serious injuries after falling down a 40-metre gully while hiking the Grouse Grind on Tuesday.
North Shore Rescue team leader Mike Danks said the hiker was near the three-quarter mark of the 2.9-kilometre mountain trail when he tumbled down some steep terrain nearby.
It is unclear what caused the fall.
“He fell and he wasn’t seen again,” said Danks.
BC Ambulance and District of North Vancouver firefighters responded to the call at 3:40 p.m. and NSR waited on standby in case a long-line rescue was necessary.
“Based on the nature of the injuries, being a fall of that distance, we launched an aircraft right away,” said Danks.
When responders reached the victim they realized he was badly injured with possible spinal and chest injuries, along with multiple cuts and contusions.
Firefighters secured the man onto a spinal board and a long-line rescue began. The injured hiker was located on a 45-degree slope in steep brush and Danks said Grouse Mountain and Metro Vancouver staff, District of North Vancouver firefighters, BC Ambulance members, NSR members, and hikers all worked together to make it a speedy rescue.
The injured man was airlifted out at around 5:15 p.m.
“We’re tight for light at that time,” said Danks. “I think the thing for this guy is he had an excellent multi-agency co-ordinated response. And because of that he was packaged very quickly and extricated back to a waiting BC Ambulance at Capilano Gate SAR station.”
Danks said the man would likely be released from hospital Wednesday.
