For four young Jasperites, Monday was just another sunny day to go cliff jumping at Horseshoe Lake south of Jasper.

That was until they saw a 27-year-old Edmonton man land awkwardly in the water after jumping off of a 65-foot cliff.

An ominous sign.

After hearing the awkward landing, Trevor Quarrington instantly swam to where the Edmontonian landed.

“He landed on his face and knocked himself out,” said Alexander Melnyk, who was another of the four Jasperites cliff jumping that day.

“He wasn’t coming up after a couple seconds, which they usually do, so then I was paddling over there (on a raft) and he was kind of floating on top of the water like a dead person would float,” said Melnyk.

The pair noted that due to the way he fell, his head hit the water hard, resulting in 8 ft. splashes, which they said was unusual.

As Melnyk paddled towards the man, Quarrington and Jordan Trepanier, who were on a smaller cliff closest to the jumper, also headed towards the 27-year-old.

“While everyone was swimming over, he must have taken in water in his lungs because he started to sink,” said Melynk.

By the time Quarrington reached him, he suspects the man was about 20 ft. under the water.

“He started sinking and I grabbed him by the arm. He was 220 pounds at least,” said the 18-year-old who equated his size to both him and Melnyk combined.

“When I started swimming and I was getting right up there and I was like ‘where is he, where is he?’ and when I looked down he was way down there so I just went,” he added.

“He was sinking pretty quick,” said Melynk.

The glassy water of Horseshoe Lake meant that Quarrington could easily see the man, and said that his “feet and arms were trying to get himself out” by making kicking motions.

Quarrington continued, “I tried to push him up and he went a little bit and then I swam up further and I grabbed onto the rocks and I put my foot underneath his armpit and I just yanked on him and he slowly got to the top.”

“When he hit the surface, Jordan Trepanier was right behind me,” said Quarrington.

“He bear hugged him,” added Melnyk.

Once the man was above water, the pair stood in shallow water near the cliff face while two other people, who said they were lifeguards, swam to assist them.

With Melnyk on a raft and another local resident also with a raft, the Jasperites said they had the Edmontonian against the rocks with two boats on each side of him.

“His gums were cut and he was coughing up all the water that he’d been taking in,” said Melnyk.

“We tried to keep his neck straight and turn his head to the side so he wouldn’t choke,” added Quarrington.

It was then that the Edmontonian came to, the pair said, at which time he was able to climb onto the boat and be taken to the shore.

“He was still kind of stumbling a bit,” said Quarrington.

Despite his ordeal, the Edmonton man thanked the crew of seven rescuers and walked out to the trailhead to meet the ambulance leaving the four Jasperites to consider what had just happened.

“It was pretty scary,” said Melynk with Quarrington nodding in agreement.

“I got back from Canmore that night,” said Quarrington, “and I was talking to my friend and he was like ‘dude that has to mean something.’”

The pair of Jasperites agreed that it was only because Quarrington was so close that they got to the man in time. “I got there probably a second or two quicker than Jordan, but if I wasn’t there I don’t know if he would be able to get him, because he was sinking pretty quick,” said Quarrington.

A pair of experienced cliff jumpers, who’ve been visiting Horseshoe for the last seven years or so, they suggest newcomers to Horseshoe try the smaller jumps first.

“I’d say definitely start off smaller and work your way up there,” said Quarrington.

“A lot of people don’t know (that there are smaller jumps), because they’re just told, ‘if you want to go cliff jumping go to Horseshoe, so they just follow the path until they see a lake,” added Melnyk who also suggested starting at the smaller jumps first.

Either way the pair and their buddies will probably back at the lake tomorrow they said.

“After seeing it... you’ve got to, not second guess it, but be more aware,” said Quarrington.

“I’ve never witnessed something like that,” added Melnyk, “you re-think it a little bit more.”

“We kind of need to show Horseshoe a little bit more respect,” said Quarrington with Melynk nodding.

Parks Canada public safety officials said the outcome could have been much worse if the teenagers hadn’t been there.

“It was their quick thinking that saved his life,” said Steve Blake, Jasper National Park’s public safety manager.