UPDATE: The skier was succesfully rescued Tuesday evening. Click here for the latest.
North Shore Rescue members are mounting an effort to save a skier injured in an avalanche in the Mount Seymour Provincial Park backcountry.
The group posted to social media just after 1 p.m. that a team of rescuers were being dispatched to Mount Seymour following a Size 2 avalanche.
The man has a broken femur, a medical team has confirmed, after he was swept into a tree close to the Seymour Alpine trail on the southeast side of First Pump Peak.
Heavy fog means the team is unable to use a helicopter to bring the injured man home. Instead, they are trying to reach the site on foot.
“Due to poor weather conditions a ground rescue may be the only option at this time. A ground rescue will require a large amount of manpower to move a toboggan through this terrain and would require rope rescue equipment,” a statement from the team read at 3 p.m. “Teams are assessing weather and avalanche danger at this time. Avalanche Canada’s danger rating is currently “Considerable” meaning avalanches are likely.”
According to Avalanche Canada, a Size 2 avalanche “could bury, injure or kill a person,” and typically carries 10 square metres of snow up to 100 metres in distance.
