North Shore Rescue called out three times Monday

North Shore Rescue (NSR) is resting after a busy day, as volunteer rescue teams responded to three unrelated calls Monday.

The first call, which was received at 12:25 p.m., involved a 16-year-old snowboarder out of bounds near Cypress Mountain Resort, according to NSR’s Mike Danks.

“Fortunately for this young man, he ran into one of our caches that has a safe place to get out of the elements and wait for rescue. And he was able to call 911 from that area. So this was a really good news story for us. It could have resulted in something a lot worse,” he said.

NSR sent in a flight team to extract the snowboarder, and the rescue went smoothly according to Danks. He says this one was “a pretty straightforward call.”

Danks adds the area is very steep and has seen multiple fatalities in the past, so he was happy to see this snowboarder get out safely in the end.

NSR’s second call of the day came at 1:54 p.m., as six tourists from Peru hiking the BCMC Trail left a 15-year-old member of their group behind because he didn’t have proper footwear for the hike.

“They left him, and the group of five carried on,” said Danks. “So this is a big no-no. You should never leave someone alone.”

Danks says this hiker called for help after the rest of his group carried on and stayed where he was, NSR had a ground team in to bring proper gear and escort him out shortly after.

For its last call of the day, NSR was sent to help a backcountry skier who had lost his way.

“He was doing some laps of Hollyburn there and thought he was descending the west side of Hollyburn, which would take you back to the parking lot. But he was, in fact, descending the east side,” Danks explained. “He didn’t realize this until Cat Lake come into view. It was at that point that he realized he was on the wrong aspect of the mountain.”

Danks adds this area is quite steep and has an increased avalanche risk.

“He was not able to get back up from that area just because of the complexity of the terrain. So, fortunately for him, he was able to make a call for help from that point,” he said.

NSR dispatched a helicopter and flight team to rescue the skier, and he was extracted from the area safely.

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Danks says none of the three people rescued Monday were injured, and adds good weather had a major part to play.

He says it was really important that everyone rescued made their calls for help early in the process as well.

“I think it’s important to highlight, for both the snowboarder and the backcountry skier, we’re very glad they made the call for help and they didn’t descend further, because that’s where people really get into trouble and risk hurting themselves,” he said.

On the separated tourist, Danks explains the group should have found out more about the current mountain conditions and brought adequate gear for the trek.

“We always recommend that you bring, at minimum, micro-spikes with you, and even up to an ice axe and crampons. Especially in terrain like that, it’s very steep. So, I think it really comes down to pre-planning the trip that you’re going to do,” he said.

“Make sure it’s adequate for your skill level, and for the amount of daylight that you’re going to have, and never split up your group, that’s just not a good idea.”