North Shore Rescue urges caution after multiple weekend callouts

Rescuers fielded multiple calls from hikers, skiers and snowboarders who had slipped and seriously injured themselves atop the North Shore mountains over the we

North Shore Rescue are issuing a warning to hikers looking to make use of the warming spring weather after crews fielded multiple calls for serious injuries over the weekend.

Across Saturday and Sunday, rescue teams responded to numerous incidents of people slipping and sliding large distances down steep slopes while exploring the North Shore mountains, particularly the western regions of Cypress Mountain, North Shore Rescue’s Paul Markey said on Monday.

“We had three calls at the same time yesterday, and then we had another call on Saturday in the same area, all were within a few hundred metres of each other,” he said.

The first of the three calls on Sunday was for an unconscious 25-year-old skier in the Christmas Gully area, on the north side of West Vancouver’s Mount Strachan. The man had suffered head injuries and a broken femur after slipping while trying to retrieve a lost ski, and his friend, who had attempted to help, suffered a fractured lower leg after following him wearing only ski boots, and slipping.

Markey said rescue teams hoisted in two doctors to the scene to assist with the rescue.

A call that followed shortly after requested help for a snowboarder who had fallen while attempting to take a photo of his group of friends while on top of the same slope, on the same cliff.

“His boots slipped on this north facing icy slope and he slipped off the cliff at the top. When you’re going down those slopes, the only thing that’s going to stop you, really, is you’re either going to go all the way to the bottom, or you’re going to hit a tree and injure yourself,” he said, touching on how all incidents involved the latter.

Markey said the biggest lesson to be learned from the events over the weekend is for resort skiers to stay in bounds. “That’s the key thing here,” he said.

“If you’re going into the backcountry, whether that’s hiking or skiing, then you need to be in a group, you need to have the right equipment and you need to have the appropriate training,” he added.

Microspikes, “at least,” should be used for traction on the trail, while any off-trail hiking on the slopes will require crampons and an ice axe, Markey said. Hikers should have experience navigating the conditions and practice with self-arrest techniques, and bright clothing is always a bonus to help rescuers should an injury occur and someone needs to be found.

Despite spring getting underway, Markey warns that the conditions atop the mountains are still icy, slippery and dangerous.

“The north-facing slopes are still all frozen. They don’t get the sun,” he said.

“Even though it’s nice and warm and the flowers are out, and the bears are roaming around in the valley – in the mountains, it’s still winter. It is still getting very cold at night. There needs to be that awareness,” he said.