Stawamus Chief Mountain is shown after a rock slide in Squamish, B.C., on Sunday, April 19, 2015, in this handout photo.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Mandy Jensen
April 20, 2015 - 10:28 AM
SQUAMISH, B.C. - Emergency crews are unaware of any injuries after a large boulder detached from the face of the Stawamus Chief Mountain in Squamish on Sunday and triggered a rock slide.
Officials say the debris cascaded down the mountain's north peak and landed several hundred metres from a nearby service road.
"At this time we have no reason to believe there's any injury," said Staff Sgt. Brian Cummins of the Squamish RCMP early Sunday evening.
"But until we end the day and there are no missing-persons reports and all the vehicles in the parking lot are gone we can't say definitely that there aren't people unaccounted for."
As of Sunday evening, search-and-rescue crews continued to escort hikers and rock climbers off the mountain.
A geotechnical engineering assessment is being conducted on the site to determine whether there is a continued risk of more slides.
The nearby Sea-to-Sky Highway was not affected by the incident.
The Stawamus Chief is a large, granite monolith located about 60 kilometres north of Vancouver.
The 700-metre tall mountain is a popular destination in the hiking and rock climbing communities.
Richie Billie managed to record some of the slide on his phone and posted the video to YouTube.
Credit: YouTube/richie Billy
News from © The Canadian Press, 2015