Until last week, there were no recorded cases in recent memory of sightseers falling to their deaths from cliffs close to Highway 99.
Two separate incidents last week turned all that around.
A 61-year-old man from Lions Bay died when he lost his footing and fell more than nine metres (30 feet) down the highway embankment.
Cpl. Dave Ritchie said the man was visiting B.C. with his wife and another couple from California. The couples were on a day-trip through Sea to Sky country when they stopped at a pullout near Loggers Creek to look at the scenery at 10:30 a.m.
The Lions Bay fire department responded to the incident five kilometres south of the village.
Rescuers tried to resuscitate the man but Ritchie said the visitor was pronounced dead by emergency personnel at the scene.
Just four days later a similar scene played out to the north of Squamish.
On Monday (Aug. 1) police received a call at 8 p.m. indicating there was an emergency in the Saltshed area.
Ritchie said a 33-year-old woman from the Lower Mainland lost her footing at the edge of highway-side cliff and she fell 91 metres (300 feet).
The woman was with members of her family coming back from a trip to Whistler.
Ritchie said they stopped at the first place where the Tantalus Range becomes visible to southbound vehicles.
Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteers with the Squamish Emergency Program were called to help bring the woman up from the bottom of the cliff.
John Howe of SAR said the woman fell in an area where a number of new climbing routes were recently created. The woman's fall ended on a trail at the base of the new climbing routes.
A helicopter was used to assist in lifting the victim back up to the highway. The highway was closed for about an hour while the rescue efforts were underway.
Like the first victim, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency personnel.
"RCMP request people only stop at designated pullout areas and please follow the posted directions on signs," Ritchie said after the second fatal incident. "Do not climb over fences or barriers to obtain better views as these are very hazardous areas."
He added that little can be done to prevent deaths like this one, because there are no laws against getting too close to the cliffs near the highway.
According to Ritchie, the first victim lost his footing in tall grass and the second victim lost her footing on loose shale.
The RCMP is not releasing the names of either victims at the request of their families.
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