Two hikers caught going up Crown Pass without gear
Posted January 5, 2014 9:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Hikers are being urged to use extra caution and common sense this time of year.
North Shore Rescue is out with the warning after spotting two men completely unprepared in the backcountry.
Tim Jones with NSR says they found the two men hiking Hanes Valley yesterday, getting ready to head up the Crown Pass.
Jones says crews spoke with the pair and demanded they stay off the pass because of their lack of technical equipment. “Between the two of them they were equipped for a camping expedition, not technical terrain. They had one set of snow shoes between the two of them. They didn’t have an ice axe, both should have had an ice axe, crampons, harnesses, rope, and helmets. They had none of this gear.”
Jones says crews discovered the two men ignored the order, dropped their packs, made their way up Crown Pass. “We believe they climbed Crown because we saw two sets of fresh tracks going up Crown. We became very concerned and it actually created a dynamic on our search that was affecting us getting people out of the field towards the end of the day because we had to put priority on these two individuals. Then we saw them sliding down on their behinds down Crown Pass into Hanes Valley, very dangerous behaviour.”
The pair were later found in Hanes Valley safe and were told to report in today following their camping trip.
The families of both men have been notified and Jones says they were horrified.
