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The owner of a Revelstoke mountaineering company has left himself open to a lawsuit after a 63-year-old rock climber was injured during a climb and needed rescuing by a helicopter because his waiver didn't stand up in court.

According to a May 2 Supreme Court of BC decision, Ian Craig Manson hired Revelstoke Alpine School owner Jeffrey Adam Mitchell to guide him on several mountaineering expeditions throughout the summer of 2021.

The two were climbing in Glacier National Park when the incident occurred.

The court document says Mitchell was directly above Manson on the face of Mount Rogers when he tested the stability of a rock.

The rock wasn't stable and fell towards Manson, who in turn moved to avoid it.

He then let go of the rope and fell roughly seven metres to the rope's end.

"As a result of the tightening of Mr. Manson’s rope, Mr. Mitchell was dislodged from his stance. Both men were injured and evacuated by helicopter," the decision says.

Manson then began legal proceedings against the professional mountain guide, his company, and the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides which gave Mitchell his accreditation.

He claims physical and psychological injuries that caused him economic loss. The decision doesn't say what those injuries are.

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The decision says Manson is an avid outdoorsman, who has hired guides numerous times for heli-skiing, cat-skiing, ski-touring, rock climbing and mountaineering. He was 63 years old when the incident took place.

Mitchell is a certified professional mountain guide who at the time had been working as a guide for five years.

During the summer of 2021, Mitchell guided Manson on several expeditions – a one-day climb of Begbie Bluffs that cost $450, and a three-day mountaineering expedition to Mt. Denman, which cost Manson $2,400.

On the day of the Begbie Bluffs, June 18, 2021, Manson signed a waiver.

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At the crux of the decision is whether the waiver Manson signed covers the day they had to be rescued or just June 18.

The case goes into complex legal arguments about how the waiver could be interrupted.

Manson argued it just covered June 18, and therefore he is open to taking legal action regarding the incident.

Mitchel argued the waiver covered the entire 2021 summer season.

However, the Justice didn't agree and ruled in Manson's favour.

This means Manson can now sue.

However, the Justice does mention that Mitchell did put forward a defence of "voluntary assumption of risk" and the mountaineering guide could use this as a defence if the case goes to trial.

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