Fatal fall near Sicamous

Photo: CSRD

There has been a second fatality in the same area of a Shuswap hiking trail.

Search and rescue had to be called in to retrieve the body of an Alberta man near Sicamous Monday who died after falling down a cliff.

Sicamous RCMP Sgt. Murray McNeil said a hiker called police just before noon July 29 to say he had found a body on the Sicamous Creek Falls Trail.

McNeil said the body was found on the lower trail in the gorge bottom at the base of a 100-foot cliff.

Police called the Sicamous Fire Department and Eagle Valley Rescue to retrieve the body, but because the terrain was so challenging, Shuswap Search and Rescue were called to retrieve the body.

“It was really rough terrain and very narrow on the lower trail,” said McNeil, noting SSR is trained in long-line rescues.

The trail is part of a network of Columbia Shuswap Regional District trails and is popular with hikers.

“The trail has been closed at this time as a result of this incident,” said McNeil.

A statement from the CSRD said: To ensure public safety while the area is assessed and the investigation into the incident continues, the entire Sicamous Creek Trail system will be closed to the public. 

This is the second fatal incident on the same section of trail in a matter of months.
McNeil said on May 15 a 27-year-old man died after falling down the cliff.

On Saturday a 72-year-old man died after falling down a cliff in Kalamalka Provincial Park near Vernon.