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THE HEARTBROKEN parents of a base jumper missing, presumed dead, in Canada have paid touching tribute to their adventurous son.

Ralph Greenaway, 40, is believed to have been hiking on Mount Rundle in Banff on August 31.

But he failed to meet friends two days later and they reported him missing.

Although his truck has been discovered, a full scale search involving dozens of volunteers has proved fruitless and has now been scaled back.

Ralph’s proud parents, Charlotte and David Greenaway, have resigned themselves to the fact that their son’s body may never be found.

“He would be gutted that he’d caused so much bother,” explained Charlotte.

“He’d be saying ‘I don’t know why you’re bothering, you know what’s happened, you knew it would happen one day.’”

Ralph lived in Canada and worked as a helicopter pilot in Canada during the latter years of his life.

But it was a life packed with adventure.

He spent most of his 20s in the army and then went in to private security travelling to places like Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

“He travelled the world,” said Charlotte.

“He truly was a world citizen. Life has been a bit hairy ever since he was born really.

“He’s always been the type of person who needs a lot of space. He’s a climber, he’s an ice climber, he’s a mountain biker, he’s done the Marathon de Sables and he’s in to Iron Man competitions.”

The adventurous streak runs in the family. Ralph’s three siblings all enjoy outdoor pursuits - Ben, 43, lives in Brisbane and is a keen kite surfer and mountain biker; Clare, 41, lives in the Philippines and loves diving, horse riding and climbing; Adam, 33, lives in France with his family and loves wakeboarding and snowboarding.

The family has now been reflecting on Ralph’s life.

“He lived every day of his life to the full and he reviewed every day of his life. He’s not an adrenaline junkie, he was so careful and methodical. He was totally focused on what he was doing. That’s why this has come totally out of the blue. We’re going to miss him like stink,” said Charlotte.

And she joked: “He hasn’t got a family, he wouldn’t while he was doing this sort of thing. He’s had girlfriends all over the world – but they gave up on him and married other people.”

Ralph, a qualified paramedic, trained as a helicopter pilot while living in New Zealand and gained the necessary flying hours working off tuna boats living on tuna and rice.

“He’s a real outdoor enthusiast and has always been an adventurous lad.

“He’s been base jumping for 20 years – his guardian angels worked very hard for those 20 years.”

Despite Ralph’s thirst for adventure, Charlotte and David were shocked when they received a call from his friend’s mother in New Zealand saying he was missing.

“We knew when the police came to the door the next day, we’d already been in touch with Banff. It was great comfort not to get it from the police.

“For the last 23 days it’s just been a waiting game. The SARS team in Canada has been great. They’ve emailed us maps of the areas they’ve searched with people and with dogs.

“They had 50 volunteers with them at one point.”

But Charlotte and David seem at peace with their son’s apparent fate.

“We’re very philosophical about it. We believe it’s a base jump that went wrong. He didn’t deploy his parachute so he must have hit the rocks before he could.

“We think he’s in the woods somewhere, it’s a very wild place. It’s just where he’d like to be.

“He’s on his hillside where he wants to be, it’s better than burying him in the local cemetery.

“We’ll have a celebration in Banff next summer. If we find him we’ll scatter his ashes and if not, we’ll just go up there and think about him.”