A few tourists learned some tough lessons over the weekend in a pair of incidents that required assistance from Parks Canada’s visitor safety specialists. 

On Sept. 11, a group of 11 young men from Edmonton, who had recently moved to Alberta from Quebec, arrived at Horseshoe Lake directly from the city. The group, all around 21 years old, used the day-use area as a party spot. Around 3:30 a.m., two of the men got into an argument and wandered off from the group into the darkness. One of the men fell off a 30-foot cliff, landing among stumps, rocks and thick moss that Parks’ visitor safety specialist Garth Lemke believes may have saved him. 

“All it takes is eight feet,” Lemke said, referring to the distance a fatal fall can occur from. 

Dispatch had a difficult time determining where the group was located, as they could not figure out what lake they were at. The group described the location as “a cliff in the trees”.

“They did not know where they were,” Lemke said. 

Dispatch asked one of the group to walk out to the highway, where it was discovered they were at Horseshoe Lake by reading one of the highway signs. 

The injured male suffered a fractured pelvis and was stabilized on the scene by Lemke, two other Parks rescue staff and two paramedics. The man had laboured breathing and was conscious, but in severe pain. He lost consciousness once as Parks and paramedics attended. He was able to move his feet but not his legs. He was secured and transported to Seton General Hospital, where he was stabilized and transported by ambulance to a hospital in Edmonton. Lemke was unable to confirm what hospital he was sent to, but said the man remains in stable condition. 

Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the incident, and charges are pending against the group. Those could include an illegal fire that was set at the day use area, illegal camping and consumption of alcohol in a public place. Alcohol and camping are prohibited at Horseshoe Lake. 

“(It) easily could have been a different outcome if he had hit his head,” Lemke said. 

Luckily, the landing area was covered in thick, squishy moss, but jagged rocks and trees were located just inches away from the area of impact. 

Parks responded to another incident early last week, on Sept. 7 at 3:17 p.m., when an unprepared person scrambled up to an exposed area and became terrified and unable to climb back down. The caller informed dispatch that a fall could result in serious injury, so Parks Canada prepared a rescue team.

Parks responded and the 26-year-old male from Ontario was found 100 metres up river on the west side of the BS Canyon area in a nearly vertical corner, with no equipment to assist in the climb. A parks rescue person was lowered down to the area using a high angle rope rescue operation and secured the man to a harness to safely extract him from the rocky corner. Lemke said the caller helped deter a potentially life-threatening outcome. 

“This situation had potential to result in a much more serious outcome,  but the quick thinking of the reporting person in recognizing a hazardous situation resolved it positively,” he said. 

Lemke said both incidents could have been avoided had the two groups been prepared for the outdoors. 

“These are two examples of an urban outlook not adjusting to the inherent hazards of a natural environment, even when people are just off the highway,” Lemke said. 

There are many lessons that can be taken from both incidents, but Lemke said being aware is the most important. 

“Always examine your surroundings for potential hazards.”