Man's jump off Lundbreck Falls dangerous but not illegal, say police

Two men from Lethbridgeset out on a fewlife-affirming adventures on the weekend, which included one of them jumping from the 12-metre Lundbreck Falls in southern Alberta.

It may bedangerousbut it's not illegal, according to police.

Colin Ross, 31, posted the video to YouTube after his friend, Chris Mezei, 33, climbed over a metre-high mesh wire fence and with visible and audible trepidation jumps from a rocky precipice into the frigid and churning waters below on Sunday.

Ross, who shot thevideo,didn't join his friend for the jump this time, but both men had taken the plunge in the past.

The falls are easily accessible inLundbreck Falls Provincial Recreation Area, about 20 kilometres west of Pincher Creek, and are typically a magnet for their beauty. But the fence can be easily climbed and there are no warning signs about jumping.

"Anybody who knows that waterfall knows not to jump it," saidRoss. "There's not a sign to be seen there's nothing just a little fence there."

"Without a sign, it's not illegal,said Const. SeanMcKenna with the Crowsnest Pass RCMP.

"But, of course, we don't condone it."

However, if therewas a conservation officer on site, Mezei would have been stopped under Alberta Provincial Parks Act, said Bryan Sundberg,conservation officer for the Pincher Creek district.

Rocks and undertow

"Locals say it's dangerous because the rocks are hidden," saidMcKenna. "If you take a shorter jump you could hit rocks, plus the undertow is strong."

For Ross and Mezei, their adventures wereabout breaking bad habits and embracing life.

"It was liberating for him," said Ross.

But he quickly adds: "We're not trying to promote people jumping off the falls or anything bad things have happened to people there."

A kayaker was killed at the park when he intentionally plunged over the falls in 2010.