Stranded man rescued from cliff face near Parksville

Photo: Arrowsmith Search and Rescue

Arrowsmith Search and Rescue saved a man stuck on a cliff face on Little Mountain, just outside of Parksville, on Tuesday night.

The man had contacted his father after running into difficulties, and he called 911.

Police called in the rescue team about 9:50 p.m. and members set up a rope system at the top of the cliff.

“We could hear his voice but we couldn’t see him,” search manager Nick Rivers said of the stranded person. “I went down to find where he was.”

Rivers was lowered about 43 metres to the man.

“He was kind of in bit of a cave,” he said. “I was free hanging and I couldn’t quite reach him.”

But Rivers soon managed to attach a safety line to him and pass him the harness, and the man was lifted to safety.

The father has since sent an email to rescuers praising them for their efforts.

“That was pretty wonderful,” Rivers said. “We don’t get that all the time.”

The father said the team’s actions were “nothing short of textbook perfection.”

“There wasn’t a single moment where I lost any faith that my son would be soon back safely in my arms,” he said. “Thank you, thank you, thank you again to all involved!!”

He said that after the rescue his was son was “dirty and tired but in otherwise excellent health and spirits.”

The team kept at it “when most of Parksville had already gone to bed,” he said, and had his son safe at the top of the cliff by just after 11 p.m.

The father said a donation will be made to Arrowsmith Search and Rescue on behalf of his family.

Members spent close to 2,000 hours training for this type of incident in 2022, and have put in over 650 training hours so far this year, the group said in a statement.

“All this training became very evident [Tuesday night] in a very efficient, safe rescue.”