Fall on Rock, Inadequate Protection, Alberta, Rocky Mountains, Cougar Canyon

Publication Year: 1996.

FALL ON ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTION Alberta, Rocky Mountains, Cougar Canyon

About 1500 on May 13, Kananaskis E.M.S. received a call regarding an injured rock climber up Cougar Creek. They notified Park rangers and Canmore Fire Department, then left for the scene. The ranger on duty directed a colleague to Cougar Canyon immediately while he gathered appropriate rescue equipment and called Alpine Helicopters to stand by.

When the first ranger reached the accident site, he found that climber M. S. had fallen off a 5.11 route on Catseye Cliff Left above the second bolt, and dropped about three meters onto a tree top. His inner thigh had been impaled by the old broken top of the tree. He sustained a three-centimeter flesh wound. He was evacuated to the trailhead, where his friends drove him to Canmore Hospital. (Source: George Field, Kananaskis Country Alpine Specialist)