Adventurous hiker died selflessly: cousin

Charles Ryker Gamble tried to save his best friend just before they both died. Canadian video blogger fell into waterfall pool north of Vancouver

VANCOUVER— The cousin of a man who fell into a pool of a waterfall north of Vancouver says Charles Ryker Gamble lived an adventurous life travelling around the world but he'll be remembered most for attempting to help his best friend before he died.

Rob Mangelsdorf said Gamble, 30, who was known as Ryker, had thousands of people following him online as he vlogged about his global treks, but in the end he was with a buddy he'd known since childhood. Gamble worked on a blog called High on Life that has almost 500,000 YouTube sub- scribers. Mangelsdorf said Thursday that Gamble was hiking with friends around Shannon Falls on Tuesday before the accident happened that left three dead.

The bodies of the three victims were recovered Wednesday after RCMP officers rappelled to the pool via helicopter.

Cpl. Sascha Banks of the Squamish RCMP detachment said family members declined to release the victims’ names.

John Willcox of Squamish Search and Rescue has said witnesses reported seeing a woman slip and fall and that her boyfriend tried to save her before another man attempted to help his friend. Mangelsdorf said a fourth friend of the trio saw what happened and called Gamble's mother with the news.

"Even in his final act on this earth he was trying to save the life of his very best friend," he said.

"Gamble had volunteered for years, including at a boxing facility in Vancouver where he coached youth, and overseas where he helped raise money for orphaned children, Mangelsdorf said.

In January 2017, Gamble and two other men from the blog pleaded guilty to walking on a hot spot in Yellowstone National Park and breaking other rules at parks in the United States. Two others in the group pleaded guilty in November 2016.