North Shore Rescue saves skier caught in avalanche with broken leg
Posted January 3, 2022 5:54 pm.
Last Updated January 4, 2022 5:54 am.
An avalanche came down Monday afternoon near Cypress Mountain Resort in West Vancouver, leaving one man hurt.
The man was brought off the mountain late Monday afternoon due to low visibility weather.
The slide happened in the Hollyburn Mountain area around 2:20 pm, while the man and his two friends were out skiing in the backcountry.
North Shore Rescue Don Jardine says it happened on the south west area of the mountain, where conditions are very volatile.
“He was partially buried, his friends were able to dig him out and call for help,” Jardine said.
North Shore Rescue volunteers were unable to rescue the man by air due to low cloud cover, so teams were forced to make their way through fresh snow on foot.
The man has a broken leg after, what’s believed to have been a human-caused avalanche by the group of skiers.
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Although Jardine says inbound areas are safe for skiers and snowboarders, the backcountry can be risky.
“Visibility is poor in the backcountry, there has been over half a metre of snowfall in the last 24 hours.”
Jardine says if you plan to go into the backcountry to be prepared for the worst case-scenario.
“If conditions are at a point where it’s not safe for us to go in, we’re just going to have to wait for things to get better,” he adds it is important to have the right equipment in case you are left waiting for rescue teams.
Jardine told CityNews another rescue is ongoing as of Monday at Cypress.
This is NSR’s first rescue of 2022 after completing a record-setting 225 calls last year.
