ANOTHER summer weekend, another set of rescues in the backcountry by North Shore Rescue.
NSR volunteers were called in to airlift injured hikers off North Shore trails on Saturday and Sunday evening.
A group of hikers who met online were headed to Coliseum Mountain Saturday when one of the group members cramped up. Most of the group continued on, while the hobbled man and one of his cohorts tried to make it back together. The two however made a wrong turn and wound up lost in the Seymour Valley and called 9-1-1. NSR members intercepted them on the ridge between Mount Fromme and Seymour.
"It's not for us to pass judgment on people for going and doing these hikes, but really, group dynamics are such an important thing, especially if you're the group leader," said team leader Tim Jones. "We really advocate that everybody try to stay together until they get out to an area where they know everybody can get out."
NSR team members were summoned again Sunday around 5:30 p.m. when a Lions Bay Search and Rescue called for help airlifting an injured woman in their territory.
The woman was descending the Binkert Trail, which leads from Lions Bay to the Lions when she fell and badly fractured her ankle at the 850-metre mark.
The incident highlights that even experienced hikers who are well equipped can run into trouble, Jones said.
