A stranded snowboarder was saved from the elements last week after he veered out of bounds and ended up surrounded by cliffs in a drainage area off Hollyburn Mountain.
"We thought he was probably drowned in the waterfall," said Tim Jones of North Shore Rescue.
"This particular chap, he didn't want to pay for a lift ticket, so he snow-shoed up Hollyburn and snowboarded."
The Vancouver man boarded out of bounds Feb. 22 and dropped into Nicky Creek, an area where Jones said he had never performed a rescue.
After receiving a call from the West Vancouver Police Department, Jones said they traced his footprints to an area just above a waterfall.
"That's where his tracks ended so it was very ominous for us," said Jones. "Once you get in these gully systems off our North Shore mountains, you usually end up in a waterfall. . . . You're trapped."
Many skiers and snowboarders panic when they find themselves in a gully, staring at a waterfall and surrounded by cliffs, Jones said. They often try to climb the cliffs and wind up falling into the waterfall.
"You can always spot a body in the waterfall by being on scene, you can't spot it from the air," he continued. "We thought we had a body."
The rescue was further complicated by a sudden storm that pelted the rescuers with 60 kilometre-an-hour winds.
"The squall was really creating havoc for us," said Jones.
The rescue helicopter was almost forced on its side due to the force of the winds.
Tracking behind the storm, Jones said the plan was to drop four rescuers on the scene with enough supplies to last for 24 hours.
Because the team had not received any cellphone contact from the snowboarder, Jones said he thought the man was too deep into the watershed to get a signal.
After dropping the team in the area, Jones said they made voice contact with the man within 15 minutes.
The snowboarder had been in the trees, according to Jones.
"He was going nowhere. There was no way he could've climbed out of there on his own."
North Shore Rescue has saved lost skiers and snowboarders four times in the past month, something Jones attributes to the cohesive communication within the volunteer organization, as well as to sheer luck.
"These last four rescues. . . they are very fortunate, we are very fortunate, that we didn't have not only one but multiple deaths."
Editor's note: There have been two more rescues by North Shore Rescue since this story was written.
