Injured hiker spends four hours awaiting dramatic night-time rescue

A hiker who plunged more than 30 feet down a cliff in Crawford falls was transported to hospital, after the Kelowna Fire Department staged a dramatic night-time rescue yesterday evening.

Ephraim Nowak, of Central Okanagan Search and Rescue, said his organization got a call at around 5:30 p.m. yesterday that a man had fallen more than 30 feet while hiking.

According to a Central Okanagan Search and Rescue press release, the man, who is in his early 20s, had been hiking the Crawford Falls trail network with friends when he decided to attempt a free-climb.

Their first action was to get a helicopter in the air to attempt to lift the man out of the steep terrain he’d fallen in, but when a mechanical issue grounded it, crews were forced to turn to Plan B.

With daylight only hours away from expiring, crews from the Kelowna Fire Department, who were already on the scene, began setting up for a technical high-angle rescue.

Nowak explained that a high-angle rescue is “quite a long process,” and yesterday’s was complicated by the fact that it took place in darkness, meaning rescuers needed to be extra careful.

According to Nowak, while the initial call had put the man’s fall at 30 feet, the slope was actually closer to 100 feet long, with a steep grade turning into a 30-foot drop-off.

After such a spill, the fallen hiker was in pretty rough shape.

“He was fading in and out of consciousness, definitely suffering from a head injury, so pretty significant injuries,” Nowak said.

He added that BC Ambulance personnel were unable to get to the hiker, but members of the Kelowna Fire Department were with him the entire time the rescue was being set up.

“It was a heck of a fall, and when he landed on the rocky terrain, that was not the best place to land,” said Kelly Stephens, a platoon captain with the Kelowna Fire Department.

“It was definitely an emergency situation.”

More than 20 personnel from four different agencies eventually completed the rescue, lifting the hiker out of the steep terrain at around 9:30 p.m. He was then transferred to the care of BC Ambulance personnel.

Nowak reminded hikers looking to use the area around Crawford Falls to be extra careful.

He pointed out that the rescued hiker wasn’t wearing proper footwear, which may have contributed to his fall.

This is the second time a hiker has been rescued at Crawford Falls in the last month. On Aug. 25 rescue crews were called in to airlift an injured hiker, after she fell while hiking there.