District of North Vancouver firefighters responded to their second serious mountain biking accident in a few short days Tuesday, this time on Mount Seymour’s Pangor Trail.
Rescuers were called out about 11 a.m. after a mountain biker in his 40s crashed on the single black diamond run, sustaining possible spinal injuries.
“He was kicked off his bike and basically landed into a stump,” said David Dales, assistant fire chief with District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue.
Firefighters hiked up the hill and transported the injured biker out in a full-body immobilization stretcher to a waiting ambulance.
Dales said the man was an experienced mountain biker.
On Sunday, firefighters raced to the scene of a mountain biking accident on Mount Fromme’s Bobsled trail after a 13-year-old boy lost control and crashed. That accident also resulted in potentially serious injuries.
On Tuesday, firefighters were called out a second time when a woman in her 20s fractured her ankle while hiking the Baden Powell Trail, northwest of Skyline Drive. Firefighters used a vacuum splint and carried the woman off the trail in a basket stretcher to a waiting ambulance, said Dales.
Dales said the recent rash of accidents appears to be related to the fact many more people than usual are using the trails right now.
“It’s a numbers game,” he said. “The trails are significantly busier than years past at this time of year.”
“Everyone comes to the North Shore for the fabulous terrain, but some of the terrain is technical,” he added.
