Rescue from the Glacier

CDM 989.183.161 – S.B.W. (Dusty) d’Esterre photograph.

In July of 1939, Alex Walker and his companion Dave Aitken set out prospecting in the vicinity of the Cliffe Glacier, amid steep slopes and jagged peaks. Walker fell ill and had to wait alone for four and a half days for rescue crews to arrive.

In the meantime, a float plane was dispatched from Comox to drop supplies at the site. Walker was carried out to Comox Lake by six burly loggers who had to winch him up and over several steep cliffs and down a waterfall to safety.