Paraglider okay after crashing in Mission, B.C. forest

A pretty good save Tuesday night for Mission Search and Rescue near Cascade Falls, where a paraglider had crashed into a tree at around 7:00 p.m.

“It was about 700 metres elevation through some fairly thick, dense forest. Access was the biggest issue.”

At about 8 p.m. Tuesday night, Mission Search and Rescue (SAR) was contacted by the RCMP to search for a downed paraglider in the the dense mountain area behind Cascade Falls. According to SAR, the paraglider was experienced and had jumped from Mt. St. Benedict when he ran into trouble shortly after, landing in a tree in the mountainous area behind the falls.

It took more than four hours of almost vertical hiking for the rope team to reach the man.

Brian Moffat from the Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue says he was called in to help at 1:00 a.m. Wednesday.

“He sort of down-climbed from where his chute had gotten tangled up in the tree at about 150 feet, and he was just basically bear-hugging the tree when we located him,” he said.

That’s when Moffat’s day job kicked in.

“Well, I’m an arborist by profession, so I basically climbed up the tree to where he was and set up a lowering system, to lower him down safely.”

The paraglider wasn’t hurt but due to the treacherous terrain, the team was unable to hike back down the mountain and the decision was made to use a helicopter in the morning.

The team members and the paraglider were long-lined out by a helicopter after a chilly night on the mountain.

Ridge Meadows SAR was one of three other teams who responded to the call.

Moffat says it’s the third or fourth time he’s climbed up a tree to help rescue someone, and that ironically as a kid, he was afraid of heights.