Someone else was swept over the falls Saturday in Gold Creek, but has lived to tell about it.
Maple Ridge Fire and Rescue Service picked up a woman at the Lower Falls in Golden Ears Provincial Park at about 4 p.m. She and another person had tried crossing the creek, but were swept away by the raging waters.
By the time firefighters arrived, the woman was already out of the water.
Firefighters then used their ATV to carry the woman to the North Beach parking lot, where an ambulance took her to a landing area.
She was picked up by air ambulance.
She was conscious and breathing, said fire chief Howard Exner.
Stu Burgess, with Alouette Park Management, said the woman was seriously hurt after the incident. He pointed out that the only safe part of Gold Creek is exactly where it enters into Alouette Lake.
“Even though the water, it looks inviting – it’s nice and cool – it doesn’t look like it’s flowing that strongly, the water’s powerful. If you go over the falls, you’ll be lucky if you can get away with just injuries from that. Many people have died there, over the years,” Burgess said.
The warmer it gets, the higher and faster the creeks run.
“It’s all snowmelt. The faster the snow’s melting the more volume of water comes down,” Burgess said.
Last April, a 24-year-old Langley man was swept over the falls after cliff diving into a pool above Gold Creek falls, never to be seen again.
Another woman survived being carried down the creek in May, while there was another close call July 3 after two women were briefly trapped in the Lower Falls area before being able to get out of the creek.