A break in the rope system used by a Cochrane climber was said to be the cause of a fall from a steep mountainside leading to the climber's death, according to Kananaskis Public Safety (KPS). On Sunday evening, around 3:30 p.m. RCMP responded to a call of two climbers in distress while climbing a popular trail at Mount Yamnuska. A 28-year-old man from Cochrane was identified as the victim of the climbing accident Jeremy McKenzie of KPS said rope failures are rare and a cause is still being investigated. However, McKenzie said the break in the rope, which is not usually a problem to worry about, was accidental. "Generally speaking, the engineering of modern climbing ropes is quite advanced. With the proper application of different techniques, you shouldn't often have it exposed to situations where it might fail. We don't know all the circumstances of this most recent incident at Yamnuska." "It just went wrong," said Sgt. Stan Andronyk of the Canmore RCMP. Emergency responders on the scene included Nakoda EMS, Kananaskis Public Safety, RCMP and Alpine Helicopters. The second climber needed to be rescued from the mountain.
