A pair of skiers were found cold but unhurt Wednesday night after they got trapped in a gully on North Vancouver's Grouse Mountain.
The men, both in their 20s according to rescuers, had skied to the bottom of the Cut in the mid-afternoon before setting off down the mountainside on foot, planning to follow a trail to Skyline Drive and take the bus home.
They got disoriented, however, and soon found themselves in the notoriously steep Mosquito Creek drainage.
The skiers were forced in and out of the water repeatedly as they went, and finally had to stop when the terrain became too dangerous.
With darkness falling, they called Grouse Mountain Resorts. Staff there passed the call on to North Shore Rescue.
The pair's phone died before they could send co-ordinates, but based on their description of the area, the volunteer team guessed they had made it to about the 1,800-foot mark. While rescuers made their way up the ravine on foot, an RCMP helicopter, equipped with night vision, searched for the victims by air.
They were spotted near the creek at about 6: 30 p.m., digging a snow cave for warmth. Directed by the aircrew, the ground team soon reached the men, warmed them up and hiked them out of the forest.
They were uninjured.
"People should understand, you probably should not be trying to descend any trail on Grouse unless you're very familiar with it," said NSR team leader Tim Jones.
