Another hiker has fallen victim to the changing conditions on the North Shore mountains, having to be rescued after slipping and injuring his leg while scrambling up an icy rock face.
The 21-year-old man was hiking with a friend on Mount Seymour between Tim Jones and Third Pump peaks on Saturday, Oct. 31, when he fell and dislocated his knee.
Doug Pope, North Shore Rescue search manager, said the team was alerted to the injured hiker by BC Ambulance around 11:30 am and found him with the help of Talon Helicopters after talking to his hiking buddy. He said initially, the hiker was unable to walk, but with the help of the rescue volunteers he was able to reach the helicopter pad at Seymour’s summit and be flown to safety by 2 p.m. The hiker declined an ambulance and was transported by his friend to seek medical care.
Pope said the Tim Jones peak area “could be quite treacherous if it is icy” and recalled previous rescues where one hiker had fallen and suffered a broken femur, and another had broken their neck.
NSR has extricated the subject out of the field with the assistance of Talon Helicopters, and has been transferred to BCEHS.
Posted by North Shore Rescue on Saturday, October 31, 2020
“Where the hiker was injured is an area where we get calls for quite often at this time of the year,” he said. “If you’re going all the way to the summit of Seymour, you traverse around the north face of Tim Jones Peak and because it’s on the North side obviously it doesn’t get sun this time of year. Water coming down off the rocks freezes and what you get is a very icy trail that is exposed in sections and you could fall for a long way.
“It is a dangerous place this time of year if you’re not prepared.”
Pope wanted to remind mountain-goers not to be fooled by the fall sunshine.
“It can be nice and warm and sunny in town, but I think people are getting a bit of a false sense of security on the mountains,” he said, explaining that the mountains were snow covered up until last week and it had melted during the recent warm weather creating very icy conditions.
Anyone venturing out to the North Shore trails during fall is advised to have sturdy hiking boots with ankle support, hiking poles, and micro-spikes, to gain traction on ice.
North Shore Rescue also recommends always having the 10 essentials on a hike – a light source, signalling device, fire starter, warm clothes, pocket-knife, shelter, water and food, a first aid-kit, navigation and a cellphone.
Elisia Seeber is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
