BANFF – Cindy Mcarthur wasn’t about to leave Jutta Hinrichs alone amongst the chaos of a deadly rockfall at Bow Glacier Falls, holding her hand until help arrived.
Following the thunderous rockslide that struck numerous hikers, she saw one of her fellow hikers and friend laying on a giant slab of rock about six metres away.
“I knew it was very critical, very severe,” said Mcarthur, who was a member of the Calgary-based Slow & Steady hiking group with Hinrichs.
“I just held her hand and stayed with her. I didn't want her to die alone. I would want someone to be there and hold my hand If I was in my final moments as well.”
The deadly rockfall at Bow Glacier Falls on June 19 claimed the lives of two hikers, including Hinrichs, 70, of Calgary, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hamza Benhilal, a 33-year-old man from Surrey, B.C. was also killed. His body was found by Parks Canada’s search and rescue dog team later that day amongst the far-flung debris. The unstable conditions meant his body could not be recovered until the following day, though.
The rockslide also badly injured three others. Two of the most seriously injured were flown to Calgary’s Foothills hospital by STARS air ambulance and a third hiker was taken by ground ambulance. Thirteen other people who had minor injuries or were remarkably unhurt were evacuated.
Luckily uninjured, save for a sprained ankle as she tried to escape as the slab of mountain gave way, Mcarthur said her hiking group of 10 had been sitting near the waterfall having lunch and enjoying the sunshine when disaster struck about 12:40 p.m.
“It was crazy. All of a sudden we just heard the loudest whip-like crack. I looked up and I could see on the right side of the waterfall the whole ledge just start to crumble… it was like pieces of Lego in square building blocks,” said Mcarthur, who lived in Canmore for about 25 years before moving to Calgary about a year-and-a-half ago.
“When they started hitting the ground it was like an instant explosion. It was just black and just a big billowing cloud of dust. It was utter chaos.
“I just said, ‘God save us all’ and I turned and I saw boulders coming flying through the dust toward us, and I know you have to run but I thought you cannot outrun Mother Nature.”
As survival instincts kicked in and she attempted to run across the rocky and uneven terrain as massive boulders and rocks crashed all around, Mcarthur’s legs buckled beneath her.
“I didn't make it very far because I was in kind of a really shaky state,” she said.
“When I saw the boulders go past me, they were thundering and it was just a horrible, horrible sound. The earth was shaking.”
When the dust settled, Mcarthur opened her eyes.
“I realized ‘Oh, I’m still alive’,” she said.
That’s when she looked over and saw Hinrichs, whom Mcarthur met last September on a hike at Lake Minnewanka.
She’s not sure how long she sat there with Hinrichs.
“She was just a very genuine, really nice, amazing person; someone that you really would always have fun with on hikes,” said Mcarthur.
“When something like this happens, you’re a team. You stay together as a team until help arrives.”
Mcarthur heard hikers yelling that help had been called for via satellite communication devices.
Eventually, a tourist from the United Kingdom came and led her away from Hinrichs.
“One of the fellows, he was a tourist, came up the hill and said, ‘We need to get you down because there could be another rockslide,'” Mcarthur said, noting his name was Jack.
“I knew that at the time when I was sitting there, but I didn’t want to leave her.”
Unsteady on her feet, she began walking with Jack’s help when they came across a seriously injured hiker who had been crushed by chunks of rocks.
Mcarthur said he was being cared for by someone with a First Aid kit, was conscious but could not move.
He had been covered with an emergency blanket and jackets to keep him warm.
“I stayed with him for probably an hour-and-a-half until STARS landed, not letting him fall asleep. He wanted to fall asleep, but I said, ‘Oh no, you’re not falling asleep. You’re staying awake and we’re getting you out of here’,” she said, noting she would give him sips of water from her camelback.
“I told him Alberta has really good surgeons and doctors and you’re in good hands and help is on its way. I just kind of kept him focused. I stayed where I was because I knew if I left him even for five or 10 minutes, he might go into shock.”
Mcarthur said she visited the man, Khaled Elgamal, in hospital last Saturday, where he was recovering from a fractured pelvis and shoulder.
Elgamal’s roommate and friend was Benhilal, who also died in the rockslide.
“He and his friend were travelling and he lost his friend at the falls,” Mcarthur said.
“He ran and kept running and even though he was getting hit with rocks, he kept going. He survived.”
Throughout the utter chaos of the disaster, Mcarthur said teamwork came shining through and how strangers also came together in the emergency.
“There are a few injured people, so you know you’re just staying together as a team and you are doing what you need to do. There is no time to think otherwise,” she said.
“You know help is on its way and you just have to do what you can for your fellow hikers.”
An avid hiker, Mcarthur knows there are risks associated with going into the backcountry, noting this incident highlights the importance of satellite communication devices and being well equipped.
She’s not sure when she will return to the mountains, though.
“I’ve been hiking a long time and I will go hiking again, but probably not for a while,” she said.
“I’m probably not going to be going into places where there are ledges all around me.”
