Two men rescued on the North Shore were ill-prepared: NSR
Posted October 7, 2013 9:41 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – North Shore Rescue has pulled off a dangerous rescue in horrible weather high in the North Shore Mountains.
Two local men in their twenties became lost yesterday while on a day hike to Mt. Elsay behind the Mt. Seymour ski area.
“They got off trail on their way back and the weather turned abysmal,” says team leader Tim Jones. “Our teams found them about [4 a.m.], so this lasted quite a while. We were very lucky to find them, the weather and terrain are heinous — it’s driving rain and high wind with a lot of rock scree. It’s treacherous to move in.”
Jones tells us the two men were seriously unprepared for a change in the weather and to spend the night in the open.
“We sent another team out to intercept with proper hiking boots. The men had running shoes on which are just not adequate. It slowed everything down.”
A helicopter was on standby for much of the morning but couldn’t lift off because of the weather.
Jones says the two hikers are very lucky. “I can tell you there were a lot of anxious moments around one or two o’clock in the morning because we had conflicting information coming to us about which route they had taken and we had to divide our resources. Fortunately, they are only bruised and bumped but nothing serious.”
“They were not prepared for this at all — not one bit,” he explains. “This was a very serious situation and we are very concerned because we are seeing more ill-prepared hikers going into the backcountry. The weather is changing, the light windows are changing. If you’re going to hike in the local mountains, you have to be well-prepared and well-equipped.”
