Can you spot the lost hiker in this photo? If you’re the lost hiker, you’d better hope that North Shore Rescue’s members can.
The team rescued two men who had gotten off trail Sunday, including one who wound up in dangerous avalanche terrain.
West Vancouver police requested North Shore Rescue’s help at 4 p.m. when they were contacted by a man who’d lost his way and become separated from his hiking buddy while returning from St. Mark’s summit on the Howe Sound Crest Trail.
With a little coaching, the first hiker proved easy to get back on track.
“He told me he was a tough guy so I said ‘OK, tough guy, climb back up to the trail,’” said search manager Doug Pope.
The second man, however had gone about 500 metres down towards Charles Creek.
“Charles Creek is a very steep, nasty, creek drainage,” Pope said. “And it’s basically an avalanche chute in the winter so he was like a bowling pin in a bowling alley in that situation.”
The avalanche risk was too high to send volunteers in on foot, but the weather was clear enough to bring in a helicopter and a long-line rescue team, Pope said.
The subject was dressed in a grey jacket with nothing to signal the helicopter but his smartphone’s flashlight.
“In this case, he was lucky because he was in the open and we were able to get good co-ordinates from his phone and he had good cell reception,” Pope said.
When you get off trail in the snow, it’s best to try to follow your track back out, Pope said. If you can’t do that, your odds of being found are much better if you have something bright like an orange tarp or proper headlamp, he added.
The Howe Sound Crest Trail is still covered in snow this time of year and neither hiker was carrying a map.
“Although it’s relatively straightforward in summer, issues get amplified in winter and the stakes are a lot higher,” Pope said.
