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January 18, 1984

Newsroom 985-2131

Classified 986-6222

WEDNESDAY
Sunny with clouds
THURSDAY
Sunny with clouds

Point Atkinson
Wednesday

Fell 250 feet despite attempt to save him
A WEST VANCOUVER youth is dead after a_ efforts.
250-foot plunge to the bottom of Capilano Canyon

and a friend only narrowly avoided the same fate
during the early morning hours of Saturday.

NEWS STAFF

Mark William Wodd, 19,
died when he slipped over the
canyon wall:in the darkness,
despite the efforts of a friend

to save him. .

Chad Dixon, also 19, of
North Vancouver, had at-
tempted to grab Wood as he
slipped over the edge in the
darkness but had been pulled
over the cliff edge by his

Dixon survived when he
landed on a ledge and grabb-
- ed hold of some tree roots
about 30 feet down the cliff.
A third youth, 19-year-old
Dominic Sklenar, ran for
help.
North Vancouver RCMP
received Sklenar’s call at 4:15
a.m. Saturday. They attend-

wT, : ’ .

ed the scene with members of |

the North Vancouver District
Fire Department who were
able to pull Dixon to safety at
about 5 a.m. He was not in-
jured in-the fail.

Members of the North
Shore Emergency Measures
Organization arrived shortly
after and battled darkness
and steep terrain to get a
searcher to the bottom of the
canyon where Wood’s body

was found at 7:22 a.m.

He was raised to the cliff
top in a stretcher and pro-
nounced dead there by a
Lions Gate Hospital doctor.

The three youths had been
walking trails inside the fenc-
ed area around the Capilano
Suspension Bridge at the time
the accident occured.

According to Dixon, they

* “OR

did not know they were as

close as they were top the
edge of the canyon.

An RCMP spokesman said
the canyon edge area is con-
sidered dangerous even in
daylight because some trails
in the area have no fencing.

‘*The cliffs are very deceiv-
ing,”” he said. ‘*The cliffs just
slope off into nothing.”’

RCMP investigation of the
tragedy is continuing.
; \

By NEWS STAFF

School
budget
cutting

LAY-OFF NOTICES
began going out to
North Vancouver
School District
employees last week
after trustees voted at
an in-camera meeting to
adopt proposed budget
cuts.

By March, the number of
now teaching cmployees ea}
the district wall have been
reduced by almost 80

By the end of

year the

wilh be

this school
number of teachers
teduced by the
equivalent of 700 full tune
Poslrons

The

of 1

lay Obls are che resade

hoe beg

Phos i Al

rm posed
Measures and are
first a a series ot spen
ding reductlons the distriet
will make

CONTINUED ON PAGE A4

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