City firefighter one of two killed in hiking tragedy

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on July 29, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Two men are dead after a hiking incident in the Crowsnest Pass.

One of the two, Greg Gaudette, was a member of the Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services team.

The City on Friday announced flags would be lowered at City Hall and Lethbridge’s five fire stations in his honour.

“Greg Gaudette was a valued City of Lethbridge employee and a proud and dedicated member of the Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services family,” said the City in a statement to media, adding it wouldn’t comment any further out of respect to his family.

The other person killed was named Jonah Swen.

A gofundme.com memorial fundraiser organized Friday for Swen and Gaudette had raised $35,355 by yesterday evening.

The fundraiser said all money collected will be given to Colby Gaudette in trust for their 13-month-old son Kace.

“Jonah was a paramedic and RN. Greg was a paramedic and firefighter. Both were much beloved by family and friends who will miss them dearly. They were close friends for most of their lives, and had many shared interests. Their loss will affect so many,” says the fundraiser.

Crowsnest RCMP said on Friday that on Wednesday around 10 p.m. they were advised that two men who were hiking along the North York Creek Plane Crash Trail outside of Coleman were overdue.

RCMP, along with Search and Rescue, conducted both an air and ground search.

On Thursday, at about 7 p.m. SAR found both hikers dead at the bottom of a ridge at Mount Coulthard.

Long Line Helicopter of Fernie attended the scene and recovered the bodies of the two men who were both in their mid 30s.

Multiple tributes for the pair have been made on Facebook since news broke about the discovery of their passing.

One person wrote “I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with both Greg and Johah and being able to call them both my friends. They are both amazing paramedics and even better people. Each one had a different impact on my life at different times…”

Of Swen, the person wrote “Jonah, a kind, free-spirited, incredibly smart, funny and all around joy of a human being who always lifted up people around him. He always knew what to say or do to put a smile on your face and had an amazing ability of knowing when that was needed.

Of Gaudette, the post said “he is compassionate and kind, one of the real good guys.. .

“This world has truly lost two absolutely beautiful souls in Greg and Jonah,” the post adds.

Another post from Aeromedical Emergency Services Ltd. read “the loss of Jonah Swen and Greg Gaudette have been very hard to fathom. Once a part of our Aeromedical family always in our hearts.”

Advanced Medical Solutions Inc. of Yellowknife, NWT posted “it is with great sadness that AMS and our ACCESS Air Ambulance Team suddenly lost Critical Care Flight Nurse Jonah Swen…losing one of our own but standing together in grief as we move thru the next days and weeks.”

Mount Coulthard, which is visible south from Highway 3, is “a summit that straddles the border between Alberta and British Columbia. . . the peak is set on the Continental Divide in Castle Wildland Provincial Park,” says website Wikipedia.

Website http://www.10adventures.com says the climb up Mount Coulthard “provides wonderful up-close views of the Flathead Range.”

The hiking trail is a 20-kilometre loop that leads to the crash site of an RCAF DC-3 plane. That plane crashed into Mount Ptolemy in 1946 after leaving Comox, B.C. on a flight to Winnipeg. But there was poor weather as it entered the last range of mountains and the plane crashed, killing all seven on board.

It’s considered a difficult hike “as there are lots of steep areas, loose rocks and it is a heavily used quad trail,” says website ehcanadatravel.com with a description of the trail which suggests hikers be aware of steep portions and “keep control at all times.”

The site says the trail takes hikers up 949 metres of elevation “with breathtaking views and amazing areas to watch for all kinds of wildlife that live in the area.”

At the plane site itself, the website says hikers “will find a large piece of the fuselage nestled into the final treeline as you approach the highest part of the trail on the mountainside.”

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