A 33-year-old Squamish man has died after falling from a portion of the Stawamus Chief on Sunday morning.
Squamish RCMP said they were notified by a climber at about 11:30 a.m. that they’d seen a group whose lead climber had fallen off the Angel’s Crest portion of the north face.
The victim had come to rest between 200-300 metres up the face.
RCMP Sgt. Sascha Banks says a highly skilled team was deployed to rescue the man, including members of Squamish Search and Rescue (SAR) and paramedics.
After reaching the site through a highly technical rope rescue, the victim went into medical distress and died a short time later, police said.
Squamish SAR manager John Willcox said the operation was a “particularly tough call” for his team.
WATCH: (Aired March 11, 2018) Search underway for two missing experienced climbers in Squamish
“Many of our members are climbers themselves of course, this is a small community of climbers,” he said. “We’re all known to each other so that does make it tough.”
Other climbers in the area reportedly offered to assist Squamish SAR, who had to call nearly every one of its members to the rescue.
The man’s death comes six weeks after another man in his 30s died after falling from the Chief in June.
Squamish SAR said the call was also the third one it received of climbers in distress over the last three days.
The BC Coroner’s Service has taken over the investigation.
—With files from Neetu Garcha
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