AFTER two gruelling days, rescuers were still searching Tuesday evening for a snowboarder who got stranded in treacherous terrain near Cypress Bowl when he veered out of bounds on the weekend.
The 33-year-old Vancouver man reportedly got into trouble Sunday morning when he ventured off a run on the ski resort's Mount Strachan and descended into the Montizambert Creek drainage just north of Horseshoe Bay.
Unable to continue down or climb back up, the man spent more than 12 hours in the ravine before rescuers were alerted to his plight.
North Shore Rescue tried to reach the victim by foot Sunday night, but the acute risk of avalanche in the area prevented them from venturing into the steep terrain until after sunrise. Deep snow, low visibility and precipitous slopes made for slow going throughout the following day.
Intermittent breaks in the weather allowed helicopters to join the search sporadically Monday and Tuesday - including an RCMP helicopter and a military aircraft equipped for night flying - but the teams found no sign of the victim beyond one set of tracks. They were unable to follow the trail due to the terrain, however.
At sunset Tuesday, volunteers were still making their slow way through the area.
"It's getting a little worrisome," said Const. Tammy Khorram, a spokeswoman for the West Vancouver police. "It gets really steep; there are some big cliffs in there . . . and there are reports he's wearing a white jacket, which doesn't help."
The volunteers were in touch with the victim from time to time in the early part of the operation, but cell coverage was spotty and the signal too weak to use the phone's GPS, according to police.
"We briefly had a text conversation," said NSR team leader Tim Jones, speaking Monday. "He's really wanting to be rescued."
The last contact with rescuers came Monday afternoon in the form of a voicemail. The man's phone powered down at about 3 p.m., said police.
The Montizambert drainage is a common site for rescues; volunteers have plucked at least seven out-of-bounds snowboarders from the ravine in the past two years. Victims tend to enter the area believing they can swing around the side of the mountain to rejoin the base of a groomed run, but instead find themselves funnelled into an impassable west-facing gully. The lack of cell coverage often complicates efforts to find them.
