Hiker who died by waterfall lived selflessly, cousin says

VANCOUVER — The cousin of a man who fell into the pool of a waterfall north of Vancouver says Charles Ryker Gamble lived an adventurous life travelling 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 online followers through his video blog about his global treks, but in the end he was with a buddy he’d known since childhood. Gamble worked on a video blog called High On Life that has almost 500,000 YouTube subscribers.

Mangelsdorf said Thursday Gamble was hiking with friends near Shannon Falls on Tuesday when the accident occurred, leaving three of them dead.

“My understanding is they just went for a hike, they weren’t doing anything silly,” he said.

The bodies of the three victims were recovered Wednesday after RCMP officers rappelled to the pool via helicopter because the area is otherwise inaccessible.

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

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.

“Even in his final act on this Earth he was trying to save the life of his very best friend,” Mangelsdorf 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, he said.