Hiker rescued near Lake Louise after spending cold night on a cliff’s edge

A hiker spent a cold night on cliff’s edge near Lake Louise Wednesday night after he tried to take a shortcut down a mountain.

The hiker, in his 30s, climbed almost 2,800 metres to Fairview Mountain’s summit Wednesday afternoon and decided to take what appeared to be a quicker route back to the base.

At around 6:30 p.m. the hiker became stranded and used his cellphone to call for help.

“A group of visitor safety specialists at that point tried to hike up to where he was in the dark. When they found out where he actually was, it was deemed to be too risky because there was a 100-metre overhang wall below him. So it was decided we needed to come back in the morning,” visitor safety specialist Stephen Holeczi said.

Crews relayed that message to him and the hiker hunkered down for the night.

“He was able to find a little ledge under an overhang above that wall to spend the night.”

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At first light Thursday, at around 7:00 a.m., safety specialists were flown in by helicopter for the rescue.

The crews were able to escort the hiker back to his car. He was cold, but uninjured.

While rescues like this are infrequent, Parks Canada said Fairview Mountain has deceived hikers before.

“It has happened before on Mount Fairview… it’s been a couple of years,” Holeczi said.

He suggested from the summit, the way down the far side of the mountain doesn’t appear to be that steep, but the terrain gets increasingly difficult lower down.

“If you have no clue about routes on other sides of peaks or any different sorts of trails and it’s getting late in the day, it’s always best just to go back the way you came,” Holeczi suggested.

Parks Canada also warns alpine mountains like Fairview have some snow cover at this time of year, and backcountry users should check avalanche bulletins before heading out.

“It’s abnormally warm for November, so you can see why people want to go hiking. But up in the alpine it’s already the start of the avalanche season,” Holeczi said. “It might be better to stick to the low elevation trails where there isn’t any snow right now.”