Jack Pincus decided to spend his Canada Day in the air paragliding. A member of the West Coast Soaring Club, he ventured around the Beaufort Range in a vehicle from his home in the Comox Valley to meet friends at a launch site on the Alberni Valley side.
What he didn’t expect was to be hung from the top of a tree 35 meters above the ground.
“There were a few of us up there,” Pincus said. “When I started, there was a gust that pushed me sideways. Everything was clear in front and there was a tree on the left. I found the tree.”
The pilot who took off before Pincus “had a very successful flight. I was unlucky,” he said.
After the pilot on the ground tried unsuccessfully to find an arborist who could help Pincus, they decided to call search and rescue.
The Alberni Valley Rescue Society dispatched a lift team using Ascent Helicopters, as well as a ground team, and called Dave Potter of Totem Tree Services for help.
The rescue was a first for Potter, a climbing arborist who owns and operates Totem Tree Services. “It’s a bit unusual,” Potter said after the rescue. “I’ve heard of paragliders getting stuck in trees; That was the first for us.”
Potter and the small rescue team were flown to a logging road near the Mount Irwin site for convenience. When rescuers arrived, Pincus had been suspended in a seated position for nearly two hours (the harnesses they use to fly are designed for sitting, Pincus said). He was appropriately dressed and had water with him.
“We hiked down to the base of the big tree and climbed to the top where it got stuck,” Potter said. “We set up a system for him to exit the tree.”
Potter explained that Pincus wasn’t hurt, but that he had no way of getting down from that high up in the tree.
“I was able to set up a rope with him and hook up to one of the descent devices. He also had some rappelling experience.”
Potter and other arborists train for this type of aerial rescue. Although the call was unusual, he was trained to do it.
Pincus said the rescue was quick once Potter was up in the tree with him.
“They were quick, efficient and professional,” Pincus said of the rescuers. “I’m really grateful for all the help I’ve received. That, to me, is the story of these guys blasting their Canada Day.”
Paragliding is a Transport Canada regulated sport. The gliding club also has a land access agreement with Mosaic to use the launch site on weekends and public holidays.
“We try to follow the rules, we are prepared and every now and then things happen that are out of our control,” Pincus said.
He and Potter were scheduled to return to the scene of the incident the following weekend and retrieve Pincus’ paraglider wings from the tree.
Alberni ValleyAlberni-Clayoquot Regional DistrictSearch and Rescue
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https://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/news/comox-valley-paraglider-spends-canada-day-stuck-in-a-tree-near-port-alberni/
