Still no sign of 84-year-old hiker missing on Grouse Mountain

Won Kil Kim is seen in an image shared by the Surrey Police Service.

Search and rescue crews spent a second day scouring the trails atop Grouse Mountain on Tuesday, but there’s still no sign of 84-year-old Won Kil Kim, who went for a hike on Sunday and never returned.

“His intention was to go for a hike in the Goat Ridge, Thunderbird Ridge area, which he frequents quite often. He’s been up here over 30 times this year,” said North Shore Rescue search manager Al McMordie.

A trail camera captured an image of the Surrey senior beginning his hike at noon on Sunday.

“That’s the only picture we have of him,” said McMordie.

On Tuesday ground crews focused on the areas just off the main trails.

“We’re just redoing everything up there in a much more deliberate way and getting further off the trail to either side to see if we can see any sign of a disturbance,” McMordie said.

North Shore Rescue is also using its Life Seeker device in the search.

“That is the one that searches for cell phones outside of a cell area. We have not been able to ping the subject’s phone or get any kind of a message to him. So we are assuming that is off,” said McMordie.

While Kim is a very experienced hiker, the fact he’s 84-years-old has heightened concern.

“He has done a lot of this area. He’s been up Crown, he’s been up Goat,” McMordie said. “He’s a very fit hiker and knows the area. So yes, the age is of concern, but he has shown that he can do this area do it fairly quickly.”

But the senior was not prepared to overnight on Grouse Mountain.

“It would be an uncomfortable night,” said Mordie, who said while there is no snow on Grouse, it’s very cold and muddy.

While Tuesday’s search was suspend due to darkness, if weather permits, it will resume on Wednesday morning.