A caver has been rescued after being trapped vertically underground at the Rat's Nest Cave in Canmore, Alta., in an operation that deployed volunteer-built underground radio technology for the first time.
Search and Rescue Alberta says the man became pinned in a tight spot known as the "Psych Squeeze" around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
The Alberta/BC Cave Rescue team was called in, and hammer drills were used to remove rock, with the caver eased out in a process measured in "inches per hour."
Search and Rescue Alberta says the man was freed around 10 p.m. and he finally emerged from the cave around midnight, after an operation involving 13 cave rescuers, 10 firefighters and two Kananaskis Mountain rescue members.
The rescue group says a cave radio that transmits signals through rock was used in a live operation for the first time.
The technology was developed by members of Alberta/BC Cave Rescue, which is part of Search and Rescue Alberta, in response to the difficulty of using traditional communication methods like phones, radios or GPS underground.
"By providing reliable text-based communications from deep inside caves to the surface, or between different locations in a cave, teams can now deploy with equipment that is purpose-built by the rescuers who will use them in the field," Search and Rescue Alberta says in a news release.
It says the new radios are smaller and lighter than traditional analog cave radios, which use technology that can no longer be repaired.
Search and Rescue Alberta and Alberta/BC Cave Rescue members along with Canmore Fire Rescue prepare to rescue a caver trapped in Rat's Nest Cave, in Canmore, Alta., using a QDX-M based cave radio, in this Aug. 15, 2026 handout photo.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Search and Rescue Alberta (Mandatory Credit)
The rescue team now has a cave radio system using technology known as QDX-M, capable of communicating through more than 500 metres of solid rock, the release says.
"Such units are not currently available commercially at an affordable cost, so the benefits of volunteer design and construction work by cavers with electrical engineering and amateur radio backgrounds has been considerable," it says.
John Alexander, the CEO of Search and Rescue Alberta, said the Rat's Nest rescue "is a display of what can be achieved when multiple emergency response agencies come together in collaboration, and of the incredible innovation and initiative taken by our 1,500 volunteer search and rescue professionals who defy odds and overcome barriers every day, so others may live."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2026.
By Darryl Greer | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.