TWO lost snowshoers were rescued in whiteout conditions Tuesday afternoon near the Howe Sound Crest Trail thanks to North Shore Rescue and an iPhone app.
While hiking to St. Marks Summit, two women in their late 30s wandered off-trail after encountering snowfall and fog.
After backtracking and finding their tracks had disappeared under fresh powder, the snowshoers called for help shortly before 3 p.m.
The snowshoers believed they were on St. Mark's Summit but an iPhone app showed their actual location.
"They were probably a kilometre south of St. Marks," said Tim Jones of North Shore Rescue. "A kilometer in a mountain environment is like a thousand kilometres."
The snowshoers were located by helicopter at around 4 p.m.
"The helicopter got within about 20 feet of the subjects," Jones said. "The beauty of having the helicopter up at that time was to confirm the coordinates."
After confirming their location, a ski-team made contact with the hikers and provided them with emergency crampons.
"They did everything right. The fact that they got turned around in bad weather and they couldn't find the trail, those are things that do happen. But they made the right call," Jones said.
