Teenager killed in hiking accident in B.C.’s Sea to Sky region

Search crews respond to a hiking accident on Hat Mountain that left a 17-year-old dead on May 4, 2025. (North Shore Rescue)

A hiking trip near the community of Lions Bay, B.C., ended in tragedy over the weekend.

Search crews said two teenagers were hiking on Hat Mountain, in the Sea to Sky region between Vancouver and Whistler, when one of them fell down a snow-filled gully Sunday afternoon.

A rescue effort was launched, but the 17-year-old hiker did not survive – marking the province’s second fatal hiking accident involving a teenager in less than two weeks.

“This was a tragic rescue with another young person losing their life,” said North Shore Rescue, in a social media statement. “Our sincerest condolences to the hiker’s family and friends.”

The victim’s name has not been released.

Authorities said the two teenagers had ended up off-trail while coming down the mountain. After the hiker fell down the gully, the other hiker called 911, prompting what crews described as a highly technical rescue involving both North Shore Rescue and Lions Bay Search and Rescue.

The surviving hiker, 16, was located on steep terrain and hoisted out by helicopter. Ground crews then found the second teenager, allowing a doctor to be “immediately hoisted into the location,” North Shore Rescue said.

Authorities said medical care was provided at the scene, but that the hiker was found unresponsive.

The teenager was pronounced dead after being airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital.

On April 22, a 17-year-old boy was killed after slipping off a 200-foot cliff on Bastion Mountain, north of Salmon Arm.

North Shore Rescue said members have also responded to “a number of fatalities and serious injuries as a result of slips on steep snow” over the last month.

Sunday’s accident is being investigated by the B.C. Coroners Service, with help from Sea to Sky RCMP.