G-spotter Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Ice climber falls though ice, swept downstream, trapped under ice, manages to break himself out with his ice tool, and gets rescued by hikers! http://www.calgaryherald.com/Calgary+brother+rescue+hiker+from+water+trap/3983406/story.html Text: Donnie and Loren Frederickson thought the day's thrills were over when they missed a snowboarding outing with pals and opted for a hike instead. But within moments of arriving at the Johnston Canyon trailhead on Monday afternoon, the brothers were involved in rescuing a man who had fallen through thin ice and remained trapped in frigid water. "It was a great adventure," Loren said from his Calgary home Wednesday. Loren, 37, said he and his brother were in the parking lot at Johnston Canyon, a popular trail 15 kilometres west of Banff, when a passerby told them a man had fallen through the ice. The witness said the man was trapped under the ice and surmised he likely wouldn't survive, Loren said. The brothers, however, thought otherwise and set out for the scene. "We figured we'd be the judge of that," Loren said. Donnie, 26, arrived first and saw the man had managed to surface through a hole in the ice about three metres from the canyon wall, but wasn't able to hoist himself out of the chest-high water of Johnston Creek. Donnie climbed under the railing bordering the paved trail and was able to speak to the man from a ledge about three metres above the creek. "I just started trying to talk to him, to see how much time we had," said Donnie, who lives in Revelstoke, B.C. "He wasn't very coherent at first." During the commotion, the brothers were able to find out the man was an ice climber from Revelstoke, and was walking through the canyon when the ice broke under his feet. After getting the man's name and reassuring him help was on the way, Donnie climbed back onto the path, where he and Loren looked for anything that could be used to pull the man from the fast-moving water. They found a five-metre tree limb and borrowed a dog leash from another hiker, which they lashed to the end of the branch. Back on his perch above the creek, Donnie was able to extend the branch to the man in the water, who wrapped the leash around his wrist. The feat prevented the man from slipping back under the ice, but the tree limb wasn't long enough to allow Donnie to safely pull the man out of the water. As the brothers considered alternatives, the bystander they initially met in the parking lot reappeared, armed with a five-metre tow rope. The brothers, by now aided by five or six others, tied the tow rope to their end of the branch. The man, meanwhile, was getting weaker by the second. "He was starting to lose consciousness. At this point, we figured, 'This has to work,'" Donnie said. With a longer line and added manpower, the group was able to pull the man from the water - but he remained on the ice, about five metres below the trail. The brothers discarded the tree branch and the leash, threw the tow rope down to the man and told him to cinch it around his chest. The group was able to hoist him up onto the trail - just as he lost consciousness. "He went limp like a sack of potatoes," Donnie said. They cut off the man's cold, soaked outerwear and gathered warm clothes from others. "We buried him in coats and waited for help," Loren said. An ambulance took the man to hospital, where he was expected to fully recover. Although Donnie lives in Revelstoke and Loren is a frequent visitor, neither knew the man prior to the rescue. "We'll probably run into him," he said, adding he hopes it will be over a beer next time. jvanrassel@calgaryherald.com Twitter:@JasonvanRassel © Copyright © The Calgary Herald Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Calgary+brother+rescue+hiker+from+water+trap/3983406/story.html#ixzz18FO48jTK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARob Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Holy shit, what a story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve0 Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Awesome, nice improvisation on the hoist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevetimetravlr Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Wow, close call! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 so ice climbers AND drunks are on god's list of favorites to protect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.