Stawamus Chief rock slide: 4 climbers found safe

RCMP in Squamish say the north face of the Stawamus Chief is still too unstable to properly search the rubble below for anyone who may have been caught in a rock slide on Sunday.

• StawamusChief rock slide raises large dust cloud

The slide happened just before 12 p.m. PT whenwhat police describe asa 1,000 cubicmetre granite slabfell away from the mountainin the North Walls area of the north peak, near a climbing route called Northern Lights.

"The sound was incredible," said local resident Kirsten Andrews who watched the slide from her home just kilometres away. "It was terrifying."

She posted avideo of the slide in progress, complete with sound,to herFacebookpage.

"I pray no one was there," she added.

Police don't believe anyone was caught in the dramatic slide.So far no injuries or property damage hasbeen reported andRCMPofficers have accounted for four climbers who were in the areawhen the slide began.

"We have no intelligence to suggest at this time that there is anyone trapped there," saidRCMPInsp.Davis Wendell. "But in an abundance of caution we're doing everything we can to eliminate that possibility at this time."

"What we are looking for now isanyone who has any knowledge of anyone that was hiking there,boulderingthereor climbing there ... to please contact theSquamishRCMP."

A geotechnical engineering assessment has beendone.

Although the results have not been released, police say the assessmentdetermined that the rock face is too unstable for emergency responders togo into the area.

Wendell said it could be weeks before the area is deemed safe but added that more assessments are currently taking place.

The slide is the second emergency to hit the district this week.

On Thursday April 16, the creosote timbers of a dock at Squamish Terminals caught fire, causing thick black smoke to billow over the municipality.

On Sunday,anair quality advisory in the areawas liftedeven though the fire continues to smolder.

"We've been going full tilt in our emergency operation centre," said SquamishMayor Patricia Heintzman.

She said she's hopeful that no one will be found injured by the slide and is thankful it happened in an area of the Stawamus Chief that does not attract many people.

"This particular area is really only for highly skilled rock climbers, not your more tourist-orientated climbs," she said.

Heintzman is not surprised by the rock slide and remembers a similar incident a decade ago, but admits that many residentsbelieve the mountain to be stable.

"This is a granite mountain, so from a climbing perspective it's actually a pretty solid mountain, episodes like this are fairly infrequent, they're fairly rare."

There wasno impact from the slide to Highway 99. However,Mamquam Forest Service Road has been closed at Highway 99 and at Cherry Drive.