A missing hiker has been found dead in K-Country.
Twenty-four-year-old Zachary Coates, originally from Newfoundland but residing in Calgary, took a solo hike at Mount Smuts in Kananaskis Country on Sunday, Aug. 11 and never returned.
Pleas from his mother on Facebook had been shared across many pages since Sunday.
He was last heard from at 1 p.m. on Sunday as he was about to embark on the hike.
Unfortunately, his body was discovered with the help of a helicopter.
RCMP Corporal Troy Savinkoff explains.
“Yesterday, just around 10 a.m. RCMP received a report of a missing hiker in the Kananaskis area. We contacted Kananaskis Emergency Services who does a lot of the searches and rescues out in this area, and they advised us that they were already en route to a possible trailhead where the hiker may have parked. And a Conservation Officer was sent there as well. Ultimately, they were successful in locating the trailhead.
RCMP were able to acquire a helicopter which Kananaskis Emergency Services utilized to do an immediate search of the area. Right around 12 o’clock (p.m.), Kananaskis Emergency Services advised us that they had located what they believed was our hiker. And unfortunately, he was deceased.
The missing hiker was located on the west-facing slope of Mount Smuts, and he was obviously found using the helicopter. He was transported and we are able to positively identify him. He has been taken to the office of the Chief Medical Examiner and they’ll be looking at the cause of death. We do believe that it was caused from a fall off that particular mountain.”
Two other hikers have also died while climbing Mount Smuts.
Catlin Hannah, 27, of Penhold, died on August 13th, 2018, after falling to his death.
And Gregg Van Belliveau, a 53-year-old Calgarian fell to his death on July 1, 2005.
