North Shore Rescue workers rappelled past icicles taller than a grown man amid the growl of nearby avalanches this past weekend to save a snowshoer who fell down the side of a frozen waterfall.

Rescue team leader Tim Jones said the Lower Mainland man, who is in his 50s, wandered several hundred metres out of bounds with three others Saturday afternoon, apparently in search of an old growth trail in the Cypress Mountain backcountry.

Rappelling rescuers took nearly 12 hours to reach the man, Jones said, since the snowshoer wandered even further down the frozen cliff after he fell — all the while “icicles about 10-feet long” dangled from above.

“If those fell down, it could kill somebody,” Jones said Sunday. “At the same time, we could hear avalanches being triggered north of us … we were very worried, there was no way we could’ve moved below (in the gully).”