Indian Arm has been a hot spot for rescues with three in the mountains and on the water in the last week.
On June 29, North Shore Rescue received a late night call to rescue a man who had gone off trail on Mount Seymour and wound up on the lower slopes above Coldwell Beach.
Because the call came in after dark, a helicopter search was out of the question. The Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue unit from North Vancouver shuttled North Shore Rescue members in, who then hiked up and retrieved the lost man, according to Doug Pope, search manager.
The volunteer marine rescuers were back on the water for Canada Day patrols on Friday when they received word of a capsized boat near Brighton Beach.
A group of recreational boaters who saw the boat flip over pulled two adults and an infant from the water and helped them ashore.
They were critical for the family in distress, according to coxswain Dan Wright.
“The closest person there is very important,” he said
On Sunday evening, North Shore Rescue was called back to the same area in a virtual carbon copy of the rescue from earlier in the week. In that case, a father and son from North Vancouver had gone off trail in nearly the same spot and called for help
In both cases, the subjects were lucky to have found cell reception, which is spotty to non-existent in the backcountry, Pope said.
“It’s lacking back there. Most areas on the North Shore, although you’re close to town and the trailheads are very accessible, it turns to wilderness quite quickly. You’re in wilderness and pretty much on your own and you have to be prepared for that,” he said.
North Shore Rescue has had a “steady” summer of missions so far, Pope said.
The team recently launched a Twitter account focusing specifically on backcountry education. It can be found online at twitter.com/NSREducate.
