FOUR men got themselves into trouble on Grouse Mountain Saturday morning after they went for a hike on a sunny spring day and ran into winter.
The men, in their 30s, were among hundreds of hikers who headed up the North Vancouver mountain's BCMC trail to take advantage of the weekend's sunny weather, according to rescuers.
Everything went well until about 10 a.m., when the victims ran into steep, snowy terrain at the 600-metre mark. Dressed only in light clothing and footwear, they soon found themselves unable to continue up the mountainside and unable to climb down. Concerned for their safety, them men called 9-1-1.
The call was passed on to North Shore Rescue, who sent a pair of ground teams equipped with ropes and ice axes down the mountain to the distressed group. The volunteers outfitted the men with removable crampons and escorted them out of the area. The victims were cold but uninjured, according to the team.
The incident highlights a problem that often arises at this time of year, said North Shore Rescue team leader Tim Jones. "It's spring in people's minds," he said. "It's time for hiking, and it's a beautiful day. They don't see where the snowline is in the tree canopy; they don't (grasp) the dangers. You can climb up a steep slope; the problem is coming down. That's where people fall and get seriously hurt, or they die."
Snow can cling to shady parts of the mountains well into the summer, said Jones. As hikers walk over it, it becomes compacted and turns to ice, creating a potentially deadly hazard.
"These guys represented a large number of people, some of whom had even worse footwear than they did," he said. "It surprised us . . . that we didn't get multiple calls."
Anyone planning to hike in the mountains should be equipped with good boots, ski poles and crampons at a minimum, said Jones.
