STRANDED-LEG STUCK IN CRACK

British Columbia, Purcell Mountains, Bugaboo Spire, Kain Route

On July 25, a male climber in his early 40s was climbing the Kain Route of the Bugaboo Spire (5.6) when his leg got stuck in a crack. Two Canadian Mountain Holiday (CMH) guides in the area initially climbed to the trapped man to make sure he was safe and secure. Banff rescuers Marc Ledwidge and Gord Irwin were slung to the scene by helicopter and were able to free the man after more than half an hour of tricky maneuvering. They brought kitchen oil from the CMH Lodge to lubricate the man’s leg. “We put a rope raising system on him and tensioned him up, trying to figure out which way to move him to get his knee unstuck,” said Ledwidge. “So with the combination of the tension system and just trying to move him back and forth a little bit, and the oil, we eventually got him free.” (Source: Cathy Ellis, Rocky Mountain Outlook)