A man had to be rescued by police from a cliff face in West Vancouver Saturday after he got stuck trying to save a dog that had fallen into Cypress Creek ravine.
The 38-year-old Vancouver man and his wife were walking their dog in the area at about 5: 30 p.m. when the animal slipped over the drop-off, falling 30 metres.
While attempting to retrieve his pet, the man also tumbled over the edge but managed to grab a hold of some branches about halfway down the cliff face. He clung to them as his wife called for help.
Const. James Hudson, a police dog handler and search and rescue technician with the West Vancouver Police Department, was first to arrive on the scene. Lacking proper high-angle rescue equipment, he quickly created a lifeline by tying several dog leashes together.
He and colleague Const. Dominic Toa lowered the line to the victim, who managed to wrap it around his leg in a "Swiss seat" - an emergency rappelling harness. The police hauled him back to safety. The victim was fatigued but unharmed.
The dog, however, was nearly killed in a rockslide caused by the rescue operation, according to police. West Vancouver firefighters eventually managed to recover the animal using ropes. It was treated for minor injuries at North Vancouver's Capilano Pet Hospital.
Although the incident ended on a good note, things could easily have turned out very differently, according to police.
"It's a 100 feet down, and it's a rock cliff," said Cpl. Jag Johal, a spokesman for the West Vancouver police. "Depending on how you fall, most certainly you're going to sustain injuries and they could be fatal."
Johal warned the public to be careful when walking in the North Shore's wooded areas.
"When something like this does happen it's advisable to call the search teams out," he said. "This is a perfect scenario where someone has tried to take matters into their own hands and placed themselves in danger."
The rescue was the second to take place in the community in the space of a few hours.
Earlier Saturday, two hikers had been plucked from the North Vancouver backwoods after spending the night stranded between an impassable slope and a swollen creek.
The 21-year-old men from Richmond and Burnaby were heading along the Hanes Valley loop, a 15-kilometre trail that connects Lynn Valley with Grouse Mountain, Friday afternoon when they realized that they couldn't go any farther.
"They encountered a very steep snow field that they could not ascend because they only had running shoes on," said Tim Jones, a spokesman for North Shore Rescue.
The duo started backtracking but soon found that they couldn't cross Lynn Creek because of the high water levels.
"They were not comfortable crossing, so that's why they remained stuck," said Jones.
When they didn't return home that evening, one of their fathers - who had a note outlining their itinerary - called the police.
At around midnight, North Vancouver RCMP launched a search of the area by helicopter, but they were unable to find the missing pair. Soon after, the police began a second search using a list of likely spots provided by North Shore Rescue.
"The coordinates are based on historical searches where subjects normally go into," said Jones.
The hikers were spotted flashing a cellphone camera near the last coordinate, just north of Lynn Creek.
A field team reached the men at 6 a.m. The group was flown out by Talon Helicopter to North Shore Rescue's station in the Seymour watershed.
The men were cold, but otherwise unharmed, said Jones, adding that they had ignored winter closure signs on the Hanes Valley route.
He reminded the public to be wary of taking on the backcountry without proper equipment.
"The ski runs may look bare but on the alpine trails protected by tree canopy, there is still a ton of snow," he said. "You need a minimum of good mountaineering boots and an ice axe and to know how to use them."
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