Two climbers have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a rockfall on the sheer walls of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish, B.C., on Thursday.
Search-and-rescue crews were called to the scene after the climbers, a man and a woman, were struck by falling rocks while ascending a route known as “liquid gold” on a part of the rockface called “the Bulletheads.”
“It appears they were struck by a falling rock while they were climbing,” said Squamish Search and Rescue search manager Mike Teske.
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Crews said the male climber went to hang onto a rock that broke away, throwing him into the rockface 40 feet below. The rock then crushed the female climber’s leg.
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The climbers were roped up and anchored to the wall, necessitating a highly technical rescue from the cliff face, using a BC Wildfire service helicopter.
“This is as technical as it gets, it’s on the face of the Chief … with significant hazard in the area for rockfall,” Teske said.
The pair were flown to Squamish and then taken to hospital by air ambulance.
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