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A “heavily intoxicated” woman tried to escape from rescue crews helping her up a trail from a Vancouver beach by jumping down a 40-foot ravine.

“Sometimes common sense and alcohol just don’t mix,” said RCMP Inspector Bryon Massie. “It wasn’t a straight jump off the cliff, she rolled down it, but it was all because she didn’t want to go with the ambulance people.”

It happened at Metro Vancouver’s clothing-optional Wreck Beach. According to Massie, friends of the woman called 911 around 10 p.m. Monday night because they believed she was too intoxicated to walk the steep winding trail that links the beach to the road above.

MORE: RCMP to step up patrols at Vancouver’s Wreck beach over summer



By the time the local RCMP detachment arrived, ambulance and fire crews were helping her up the trail – which is when the woman bolted.

After her tumble she was unable to get up, and had to be rescued by the Vancouver Fire Technical Rescue Team.

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She escaped serious injury and was sent to a nearby hospital to be assessed. But Massie said the entire ordeal was avoidable.

“It took up resources that could have been dealing with other things,” he said. “The trail can be a little precarious even when you’re sober.”