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Turbans used to rescue hiker above waterfall in Golden Ears park

Man had slipped into pool above the Lower Falls Monday afternoon
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A man slipped into the water above Lower Falls on Monday. (Priyanka Ketkar/The News)

A group of hikers used their turbans to rescue a man from the waters above the Lower Falls in Golden Ears Provincial Park Monday afternoon.

At about 6 p.m. Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue received a call about two hikers that were in trouble at the falls.

One man had slipped and fell into the pool just above the falls and was having difficulty getting out, explained SAR manager Rick Laing.

However, before the rescue team could get there, another group of five men came upon the scene and sprang into action.

“Five young males hiking past rendered them aid by taking their turbans off, tying them together and making one long rope,” said Laing.

Laing’s team met both groups as they made their way back out the parking lot.

“The rocks there are quite slick and it can be really difficult to get back out of it, especially if you are wet and cold. So, they were fortunate that these five young men happened by and were able to get him out and back up to the trail,” noted Laing, adding that he had 18 members respond to the call – a good response, he said, considering it was Thanksgiving.

Laing said the two men who appeared to be in their early to mid-20’s had gone to the pool and told his team that they did not see the hazard signs. But, how the pair got to the pool, or if the one man slipped down from the top or climbed down to the pool before he fell in, is not clear.

Laing said the man was very lucky.

“Certainly if he had stayed in the pool any longer he could have succumbed to hypothermia. He could have been swept over the falls,.” And, continued Laing, the man most certainly would have suffered broken limbs or maybe even death if he had gone over the falls.

READ MORE: Firefighter suffers broken leg during swift water rescue practice in Golden Ears park

“We have a number of people who have died going over the falls,” he remarked.

Laing added the pair may not have seen the hazard signs indicating the dangers of climbing close to the falls.

“I guess it depends which direction they are coming from, the light and everything.”

ALSO: Dog survives plunge over Gold Creek Lower Falls in Maple Ridge

But, he said of the signs, “they are of a substantial size.”

Members from the local rescue team were also involved in a search north of Hope over the long weekend.

A 65-year-old woman became separated from her husband while out picking mushrooms late Thursday afternoon.

A team from Harrison Search and Rescue went out that evening but couldn’t find the missing woman.

They requested help in the search over the weekend and four from the Ridge Meadows team helped out Friday, three on Saturday, and two went out on Sunday, before the search was suspended that night.

Searchers came as far away as Kamloops and Lions Bay, explained Laing, but there was a lack of clues and organizers were having a difficult time finding more searchers.


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Colleen Flanagan

About the Author: Colleen Flanagan

I got my start with Black Press Media in 2003 as a photojournalist.
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