A teenager doing some recreational cliff climbing above the Kelowna Golf and Country Club needed rescuing on Friday evening.
The Kelowna Fire Department said it was alerted around 5:30 p.m., after a golf-course member noticed the 15-year-old boy was stuck on the well-known cliff that runs alongside the 18-hole course.
According to the fire department, the teen was on steep, unstable ground, approximately 50 feet up, unable to move up or down.
“The technical rescue team was deployed,” said the fire department, “and were able to get the patient into a rescue harness and lower the patient and rescuer safely to flat ground.”
Platoon Captain Scott Clarke told Global News that “every time he moved, he started sliding.”
The angle-rescue team climbed above the stuck teen, with one member roping his way down and bringing the boy to safety.
The fire department said the squad is comprised of specially-trained firefighters around the city, and that it generally takes some time to mobilize the unit.
“He was a little dehydrated, a little tired,” said Clarke, “but it’s a good outcome.”
The fire department said the teen wasn’t injured, and that one fire engine and 12 fire personnel were involved.