B.C. man 'lucky' after crashing into mountain while BASE jumping in Squamish: SAR
CBC
A Squamish, B.C., man was rescued Tuesday after crashing into the side of a mountain while BASE jumping off Slhanay Mountain.
BASE jumping is parachuting or wingsuit flying from a fixed structure or cliff. The BASE acronym stands for four types of fixed objects from which one can jump: building, antenna, span and earth.
Squamish Search and Rescue (SAR) manager Mike Teske said that when Zachery Mayne jumped on Nov. 11, he ended up doing a 90-degree turn and hitting the rock face of the mountain.
“With his parachute collapsed, he then started to plummet to the earth, where his chute caught onto some of the rock,” said Teske.
Mayne managed to scramble to a small area and get out of his parachute so it didn’t blow him off the mountain.
Mayne's friends called for help around 4:30 p.m. PT and eventually led 30 search and rescue members to his location — about 20 metres below a cliff on Slhanay Peak.
When Squamish SAR arrived, they found Mayne hanging onto a small outcropping of rock to stop himself from plummeting more than 450 metres.
“That would have been an unsurvivable fall,” Teske said.
“He was very lucky,” Teske added. “He got very cold … and he was in a very precarious position. He couldn't move.”
But getting to Mayne wasn't easy, Teske said.
“A significant hike through some really challenging terrain to get to an area above where he was stranded,” he said.
Squamish SAR called for assistance from North Shore Rescue and Talon Helicopters, a private company which works closely with search and rescue groups, to hoist Mayne out of the area.
It was midnight before Mayne was finally rescued.
“It takes a lot of people to facilitate a rescue like this,” said Teske. “If it's hard for you to get there, it's also very hard for us to get there and then to get you out.”
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