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Mounties in Alberta say a paraglider died after crashing into the side of a mountain earlier this month.
RCMP Cpl. Gina Slaney says officers responded to a call about a paragliding crash near Ha Ling Peak, a popular mountain near the town of Canmore, just before noon on Jan. 18.
Slaney said the male was pronounced dead at the scene and the cause of the crash is not criminal in nature, but it is still under investigation.
“Somebody called in and said somebody hit the side of the mountain. I know that sounds horrible,” she said in an interview on Monday.
“By the time we arrived, there was a helicopter there, EMS was there.”
RCMP said Mounties conducted traffic control in the area while Kananaskis Emergency Services helped the male.
Slaney said investigators are waiting for the autopsy results.
Michael Plenits, the press secretary for Alberta’s minister of forestry and parks, said hang-gliding and paragliding are federally regulated activities and there are two authorized takeoff and landing points for the air sports in Kananaskis.
Ha Ling Peak is one of them, he said in an email.
“Alberta Parks does not issue permissions or permits for individual hang gliding and paragliding flights,” Plenits said.
“We work closely with Alberta Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association and co-ordinate with our partners as needed.”
Plenits said rescue teams with Alberta Parks and conservation officers also responded to the paragliding crash.
