Hiker recovering after 18-metre fall near Squamish

A Vancouver woman is recovering in hospital with a broken leg after falling 18 metres down a mountainside near Squamish.

36-year-old Margaux Cohen, an avid hiker who documents her adventures on social media, had just finished summiting Tricouni Peak with her friend Max, her dog Zion and her friend’s cousin before the incident happened.

The group was climbing down from the peak when they found themselves struggling to find the trail.

“We saw that the trail was just across a little wall,” she told Global News from her hospital bed at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver.

“We assessed the situation. The wall, can we down-climb it? Is it hard or anything? We decided that it was a pretty easy down-climb compared to things I usually do.”

However, Cohen’s dog slipped off a ledge while the group was climbing down. Cohen grabbed him, but the impact caused her to fall.

She hit her head multiple times while tumbling down the mountainside before landing on a flat rock surface and breaking her leg.

“I did not lose consciousness at all, which, to be honest, I would have preferred because I remember everything of my fall,” she said.

“I didn’t break my nose, but because I hit my nose on rocks like three times obviously it was bleeding a lot. My face started to swell. I was so swollen. I looked at my leg and I was like, ‘there is something really wrong with my leg, it’s not the right shape anymore.’ I started screaming. I don’t know if it was pain or the realization of what had happened.”

Squamish Search and Rescue arrived on the scene and took her to hospital via helicopter about two hours after her friend dialed 911.

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“I don’t think it’s a really long time, but when it’s as hot as it was last Sunday and there’s no shade and you’re on rocks and you’re injured, it’s really a long time.”

Doctors at Lions Gate performed surgery on Cohen’s leg and are planning for a second operation. Despite her leg injury, she appears to have avoided any serious injuries to her head or vital organs. Her dog also emerged unscathed.

“I just believe that someone was watching over me that day,” she said.

“I’m definitely really grateful that Max was there with me because he’s one of my best friends and he handled the situation perfectly. I’m obviously really grateful for Search and Rescue as well because I think they always do an amazing job. I love Search and Rescue – I’ve been watching their series online and I love what they do. I would love one day to be part of Search and Rescue myself.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up by a friend of Cohen’s to support her expenses as she recovers.