NORTH VANCOUVER — A 17-year-old boy was seen clinging to the rocks of a cliff for about a half an hour on Monday, before falling into a B.C. canyon to his death.

Cole Marsh, of Port Coquitlam, B.C., fell from a cliff face near the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge into the creek below just as rescue personnel were trying to reach him.

RCMP Sgt. Doug Trousdell said the body had been submerged for about an hour when rescuers determined it was too difficult to access the location.

Marsh was a senior at Terry Fox Secondary and played goalkeeper for the Burnaby Mountain Selects lacrosse team.

“I was just in denial," Jeremy Diffner, a close friend of Marsh, said after learning of his friend’s death on Facebook Monday night. "I had a dream where I was hugging him goodbye and woke up in tears.”

Diffner said the two of them liked to go cliff jumping and spent much of last summer jumping from the cliffs in Lynn Canyon.

“That was our hobby, cliff jumping, but it was during the summer instead of early spring. I have no idea why he was out there (Monday),” Diffner said.

The water in Lynn Canyon is fast and high at this time of year, but according to North Shore Rescue, it is never truly safe to jump from the cliffs in the area.

“I think history has proven that that canyon is extremely dangerous and a lot of people have lost their lives in there,” said team leader Mike Danks. “When they’re doing those activities, there’s always a chance of getting hurt, and when they get hurt, they need to be rescued, and then they put rescuers at risk as well.”

He believes that too many young people get pressured into taking dangerous risks in the canyon, without understanding the movement of the creek below.

“It’s just year after year, the same thing keeps happening. Something needs to change. What it is, I don’t know, but I think it’s definitely worth having the discussion,” Danks said.

Diffner described Marsh as the nicest guy he has ever met, and someone who always knew how to brighten a cloudy day.

“After my dad died six years ago, I hadn’t smiled, laughed, been happy in three weeks. First day I see him after that, he makes me laugh, he makes me actually enjoy myself again, which is just an outstanding characteristic to have,” Diffner said.

Other friends shared their memories of the kind things he had done for them.

“Cole really was an amazing guy. And I know you hear that about everyone who dies — ‘Yeah, they were so great and caring and compassionate’ — but he really was,” Brianagh Flesher wrote in an e-mail to The Vancouver Sun. “He really went out of his way to make people happy.”

Flesher recently celebrated her 18th birthday, and said Marsh was one of the only people who showed up for a dinner in her honour. He saw her crying in despair.

“It was the worst birthday I have ever had,” she said. “He texted me every day for like the next week and a half to make sure I was okay. You never realized what an impact he made on so many people until today.”

Making his friends’ birthdays special seemed to be a priority for Marsh.

“I remember when I wasn’t very close with him and our birthdays were a day apart … I brought up (the idea of) a conjoined birthday party,” said another friend, Sabrina Hustins. “He lit up like a child on Christmas Day, he was so happy and determined for it to happen. That was the best birthday I’ve had and I’m glad I got to share it with him.”

Brent Hoskins coached Marsh in the Selects Elite Touring Program, and described Marsh as a “tremendous” kid who came from a loving and supportive family, as well as one of the best young goaltenders in B.C.

“He had an incredibly genuine personality, which made Cole and outstanding teammate and absolute pleasure to coach. After every practice, he would shake each of our (coaches’ hands) and always have a question on any areas where he could improve,” Hoskins wrote in an e-mail.

- With Files from The Canadian Press