Grouse Grind hiker rescued after falling 150 feet down gully

A man in his mid-fifties was rescued from Grouse Mountain off the trail of the Grouse Grind Tuesday afternoon after falling 150 feet, or about the length of a 14-storey building, down a gully.

Just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the North Vancouver District Fire Department and North Shore Rescue responded to a call from a hiker who had fallen down a steep ravine near the Grouse Grind trail.

The man was long-lined out of the forest from a North Shore Rescue helicopter flying above. Upon medical inspection, the hiker was found to have a fractured vertebra in his back, according to a family member. He has been an avid Grouse Grind enthusiast for several years, and used to complete the hike every day before work before an accident impaired his balance six years ago.

“He had a normal Grind time of 45 minutes, but now, after that accident, his balance is gone and it takes closer to two hours. He does the Grind by himself with no more ado, and no differently than you or I would approach the sea wall, except perhaps that he has done it more often,” the family member told Vancity Buzz.

@DNorthVanFire on scene with injured hiker, @jarrettlunn and @NSRescue assist with helicopter longline #rescue SAR pic.twitter.com/znbY6fNL4F

— Peter Murray (@taloncopters) October 28, 2015

@NSRescue performed longline rescue tonight of injured hiker from Grouse Grind flown by @jarrettlunn #SAR #rescue pic.twitter.com/7jrLeInA3Z — Peter Murray (@taloncopters) October 28, 2015

North Shore Rescue uploaded a video of he rescue to YouTube, showing just how deep the the gully was.

The volunteer-run organization received a record number of 28 calls in August and already more than 110 so far this year.

“In my 13 years of being on this team I have never seen anything like this … The pace has been relentless for the last 7 weeks,” wrote rescuer John Blown in a September 25 blog post.

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Editor’s note: This article was amended on October 28, 2015. An earlier version incorrectly noted that the victim of this accident suffered a few broken ribs and was in his sixties. He is in fact 55 and received a fractured vertebra in his back during the fall.