It was a long, long weekend for North Shore Rescue volunteers, who spent much of Victoria Day rescuing the lost, injured and just plain scared from North Shore backcountry.
A common theme in the call-outs was hikers finding themselves totally unprepared for winter conditions.
“It really highlights that people are completely naïve to the winter conditions that still exist in the backcountry,” said Mike Danks, North Shore Rescue team leader. “It may be spring or the beginning of summer right now in the city but it’s certainly not in the backcountry and we saw that this weekend with a number of preventable calls.”
The last of four rescues in three days involved an overnight stay near Lynn Peak Monday night where a 22-year-old man travelling in a group five was in too much pain to make it back to the parking lot on his own.
“Not experienced hikers. Not familiar with the terrain. Not expecting to be in the snow,” Danks said. “This individual was very dehydrated, had very little food with him. They were wearing shorts. They were not prepared to be out overnight.”
The team dispatched a ground team hoping to rehydrate the young man and walk him back out but quickly learned that wasn’t going to be possible, opting instead to hunker down for the night with fresh supplies and extract them by helicopter at first light Tuesday. “This guy was in pretty rough shape,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s not worth putting our members at risk to evacuate someone like that.”
Earlier on Monday, the team had a similar call for two young women near Mount Strachan on the Howe Sound Crest Trail who panicked and started calling 911 when they found themselves stuck.
“They were just absolutely frantic. They were in the snow. They couldn’t move up or down,” Danks said. “They were completely unprepared for the snow conditions and the terrain and just got in way over their heads. They were not injured. They were just absolutely terrified.”
The subjects were easy enough to find and hike out but the entire rescue could have been avoided had they done some research before heading out, Danks said.
While out on the call, volunteers spotted evidence of large avalanches in Christmas Gully and the massive cornice at Strachan appears to be ready to give, Danks said.
“We wouldn’t be surprised if that collapsed by the end of the week,” he said.
Volunteers were out Sunday afternoon when they received a call from police requesting help with a 60-year-old man who wound up knee-deep in trouble (and snow) close by Lost Lake on lower Hollyburn Mountain.
“He kind of broke the snow where the snow was kind of rotten underneath – hollowed out if you will,” Danks said. “He was absolutely unable to walk. He was actually in quite a bit of pain.”
The man was unusually well experienced and prepared compared to typical rescue subjects, with crampons, ski poles and backpack with emergency blanket.
“He was a totally dialed in guy. It was just an accident. It could have happened to anyone,” Danks said.
The busy weekend started with a call on Saturday afternoon when a group of upwards of 40 snowboarders had set up an informal halfpipe on the first pump of Mount Seymour.
“One of the guys ended up launching off the jump and obviously got a bit more air than he thought he was going to get and ended up landing flat on his back,” Danks said.
Members of the snowboarding group trained in first aid did an “awesome job” immobilizing the patient and stamping down a landing zone for the helicopter, Danks said. Rescuers later learned the man suffered a fracture vertebra in the fall.
The busy weekend for rescuers came as Metro Vancouver was warning Grouse Grinders to keep off the trail until snow and ice melts from the top third of the trail and maintenance work can be done.
