Deja vu: Multiple hikers rescued in North Shore mountains in separate incidents
North Shore Rescue and Squamish Search and Rescue responded to two separate incidents of stranded hikers just one day apart on the same mountain.
On Sunday, a tourist had to be rescued by search team after they got lost on Mount Habrich, an area that’s accessible from the top of the popular Sea to Sky Gondola.
Scott Merriman, air operations coordinator at North Shore Rescue, was part of the team that responded to the man’s call to 911.
“Two of us responded from the North Shore and located him pretty quickly,” Merriman said. “Fortunately, he was in an open area because he had no light left. His phone had died, and he was dressed in all black.”
The man was on vacation from Colombia and was found hypothermic, but uninjured.
“He was shaking when we got there on scene. So, he was very cold. His feet were soaking wet,” Merriman said.
“Temperature was around freezing. So, he definitely would have been very uncomfortable.”
After the man was hoisted by the rescue teams, he was flown to Squamish Airport.
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The second incident occurred just a day later on November 20 when a pair of hikers were rescued from Mount Habrich, in close proximity to where the rescue took place the previous day.
“They were within a kilometre of each other, the Sunday and the Monday rescues,” Merriman said, adding that it was dark and cold.
While Merriman did not have as much information on the second rescue, he shared that the Squamish-based rescue team “located them from the air pretty much immediately and just went into hoisting operations to get them out and then, same thing, flew them to Squamish Airport.”
North Shore Rescue and Squamish Search and Rescue coordinated with Talon Helicopters for the rescues and used a night vision-equipped dolphin helicopter for the hoisting operations.
The helicopter was previously on loan to Alberta during the summer to aid wildfire-fighting efforts, but is now back in BC. Merriman said the use of this helicopter greatly improves their search-and-rescue capabilities.
“Being able to fly at night really takes the time pressure off, which is good, and it extends the amount of time that we can go out there,” he said.
While these incidents are considered a “blip,” Merriman shared a message about how to stay safe while hiking.
He cautioned that hikers should have “a good navigation source and the ability to use it, whether that’s a good mobile mapping platform, like Gaia or AllTrails, [know] how to use it, and [have] a good light source.”
“Just doing a little bit of pre-planning [for] your trip.”