A hiker is recovering in a Calgary hospital after falling about 45 metres (150 feet) from a scree slope on Mount Haig near Castle Mountain ski resort Sunday.
The 35-year-old woman was with a group of six hikers on the peak, which is on the border of Alberta and British Columbia.
RCMP said an emergency locator beacon was activated at 3:15 p.m., followed by a report of an “injured female hiker.”
Rescue crews from Waterton National Parks Public Safety, Kananaskis Provincial Park Public Safety and Banff National Park found the hikers and were able to remove five of them from the mountain side.
READ MORE: Hikers missing west of Calgary found safe and uninjured
Because of inclement weather, the injured woman couldn’t be airlifted out Sunday night.
“A public safety officer from Waterton Parks erected a survival tent and stayed with the injured hiker overnight,” Pincher Creek RCMP said in a statement.
The rescue continued Monday morning with alpine helicopters reaching the woman at 10:30 a.m.
READ MORE: Hiker rescued after 60-metre fall from Grouse Grind
She was removed by helicopter with a “long line extraction” then taken to a local hospital by ground ambulance, followed by another air ambulance to Calgary.
“This was one of the largest rescue efforts I have been part of,” Pincher Creek RCMP Cpl. Jeff Feist said. “Saving this woman’s life can be credited to the superior technical ability of all those who participated in this extremely complex mission.”
Police credited all agencies involved—including Lethbridge and Pincher Creek search and rescue teams and emergency officials, along with Castle Mountain ski resort staff who opened their lodge to help.
“Without the assistance of all these agencies this rescue may not have been possible,” RCMP said in a statement.
Mount Haig is located about 100 kilometres west of Lethbridge.
Comments