by John Boivin
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Valley Voice
The sport of hang gliding kept search and rescue and emergency officials in Slocan Park busy one day last week.
Police say they received a call at about 5:23 p.m. on Sept. 15 that one of a pair of hang gliders had had a hard landing near Price Road in Slocan Park. It wasn’t long before BC Ambulance and the local fire department responded.
“The pilot was transported to Trail hospital and is expected to make a full recovery,” says Corporal Derek Pitt of the Nelson RCMP detachment.
The injured pilot’s flying partner was able to land safely, he said.
Strangely, it wasn’t the only hang gliding-related call police received from Slocan Park on Sept. 15. Earlier that day – just after noon – RCMP also received a call that a hiking group had spotted what appeared to be a crashed hang glider on the side of a hill.
Search and rescue were called in, and a helicopter hired to get to the scene of the crash. When they got there, it turned out to be some old snow fencing debris belonging to Baldface Lodge.
“It was a false alarm,” says Pitt.
