B.C. hiker ‘very indebted’ to rescuers who performed cliffside rescue after dark

The scene of a hoist rescue on Grouse Mountain, where an injured hiker became trapped on a cliff ledge. (Facebook/North Shore Rescue)

An experienced B.C. hiker who made a series of bad decisions that left him trapped on a cliffside after dark is sharing his story—in the hopes of convincing others not to make the same mistakes.

Jerry Crunch, as he goes by on the Grouse Grind leaderboard, told CTV News he feels deeply indebted to the North Shore Rescue crew that saved his life Tuesday, hoisting him from a ledge above an approximately 30-metre drop.

“If they had taken maybe another two hours, the rocks could have come loose and I would have fallen,” he said.

Looking back, Crunch recognizes his first major misstep was changing routes without proper planning.

The young man normally hikes the Grind daily, but on Tuesday made a last-minute decision to venture the Taint Trail, an alternative route up Grouse Mountain he’s only done once before.

“I’ve been in a bit of a tough mental headspace lately with school and everything,” he said. “I just wanted to get away from it all and do something a little different.”

Despite looking at a map on his phone, Crunch said he somehow ended up going west of the Grind when he should have gone east.

He then pushed ahead, ignoring what he sees in retrospect were clear signs he was off trail—his second big mistake.

“My head just shut off,” Crunch said.

He eventually reached an area where the only way forward was to navigate some large boulders. He again decided to continue on, which is when he tumbled approximately 10 metres down a cliff onto a small ledge, suffering several cuts and scrapes along the way.

Crunch said his fall was only stopped thanks to a tree jutting out of the cliffside. That left him on a precarious patch of dirt and loose rock fragments, or scree.

He had begun his hike around 6 p.m., which on a normal day on the Grind would have given him plenty of time to get back before dark. Crunch’s fastest trip up this season was 34 minutes and 15 seconds, according to the leaderboard.

But Crunch said it was after 9 p.m. that he found himself on the ledge, with his phone low on battery. He managed to call North Shore Rescue for help, his device only dying shortly before a helicopter began circling his location.

Crunch then flagged his rescuers by turning his watch brightness up and waving his arms. Crews confirmed the aerial team spotted him thanks to the glow of the device.

“That was the one smart thing I did that day,” he said. “Everything else was complete idiocy.”

To get him off the cliff, volunteers executed a highly technical rescue, with one hoist tech rappelling down to his location so he could be flown to safety.

North Shore Rescue said the crews wrapped up their work around 3 a.m.

“It goes without saying I’m very indebted to them,” Crunch said. “If there’s anything I learned from this, it’s when in doubt, just play it safe. Just play it safe.”