Yang Canpai, a 56-year-old mountain biker from Changhua County, was descending from Tianchi Mountain Lodge in Ren’ai Township toward the Tunnyuan Trailhead on the 18th when he accidentally fell off a cliff near the Yunhai Power Line Station. Tragically, he plunged 200 meters down the mountainside. When police and firefighters arrived for the search and rescue operation, they found no signs of life. His body has since been transported by rescuers to Tianchi Mountain Lodge, awaiting helicopter retrieval and descent on the 19th.
The Nantou County Fire Bureau received a report at 12:33 p.m. yesterday about a mountain biker falling off a cliff near the Yunhai Power Line Station. The Ren’ai Fire Brigade immediately dispatched five firefighters to conduct a mountain search and also requested helicopter assistance. However, due to poor weather conditions in the mountainous area, the helicopter circled the region before returning without success.
Seventeen cyclists from the Changhua County United Mountain Biking Team were riding their bikes from Tianchi Mountain Lodge toward the Lushan Tunnyuan Trailhead in Ren’ai Township yesterday noon when team member Yang Canpai accidentally fell 200 meters down a valley at the 9.8 km marker. His foreign companion reported the incident to the police and informed them that the rider surnamed Yang had died. Ground search and rescue personnel rappelled down the cliff and discovered Yang’s body at 4:25 p.m.
The deceased’s son told police that his father, Yang Canpai, would go mountain biking once a month. On the morning of the 18th, around 4 a.m., he departed from Changhua City on a tour bus together with the United Mountain Biking Team. Unexpectedly, around 1 p.m. that afternoon, his mother received a phone call from the wife of his father’s biking teammate, Li Qixian, informing her that her husband had fallen into a valley and died.
A teammate, Huang, who works as a designer, said that around 12 p.m. yesterday, Yang Canpai was cycling ahead of the group. As the road section was an uphill climb, he and another teammate surnamed Shi got off their bikes to push them. Yang continued pedaling uphill alone. By the time Huang and Shi reached the wooden boardwalk at the top by foot, they heard the sound of something falling.
Huang noted that when they looked downhill, they were shocked to find that Yang Canpai had fallen into a deep valley. The location was approximately at the 10 km mark of the Nenggao Crossing wooden boardwalk. At the scene, one of their foreign teammates climbed down the valley to confirm Yang’s death.
Entry to the Nenggao Crossing Trail from the Tunnyuan Trailhead in Ren’ai Township prohibits any vehicle access. Team members of the Changhua United Mountain Biking Team all stated that they were unaware of the sign banning vehicle entry.
Yang Canpai’s body was retrieved by ground search and rescue personnel who rappelled down the cliff and hoisted it up to the trail surface before being transported to Tianchi Mountain Lodge. On the 19th, it will be airlifted by helicopter or otherwise brought down the mountain.