North Shore Rescue helped another seven folks out of the wilderness over the weekend – but one person remains missing, possibly in the Lynn Headwaters area.
Between Saturday afternoon and Sunday night, North Shore volunteers carried out rescues in Powell River, on Crown Mountain, Mount Fromme, Mount Seymour and in Lynn Headwaters.
On Saturday evening, the team was in Powell River with Talon Helicopters’ new Dauphin, to extricate a hiker who injured his leg, said Mike Danks, North Shore Rescue team leader.
Before that call was wrapped, they were deploying a ground team to Mount Fromme, where a man got off trail and was getting into steep, snowy terrain as night was approaching. It took about five hours, but they found the subject and walked him out after midnight, Danks said.
The pager was buzzing again just four hours later when two climbers headed for Widowmaker Arete, beyond Crown Mountain, failed to check in.
“During their climb, there was rock fall that was coming down above them,” he said. “They were well prepared. They just had an uncomfortable sleep in a bivy bag [bivouac shelter].”
Danks had a Talon helicopter to the subjects not long after sun-up and they were home before most North Shore residents had a cup of coffee.
Later in the morning, however, the team received word of a missing 19-year-old UBC student who may have been headed for Lynn Headwaters. Jason Yin has not been seen since July 2 and the Vancouver Police Department considers him a missing person.
Danks said it’s possible that Yin has camping gear but there is reason to worry that he went into the backcountry with the intention of harming himself.
Volunteers were out in the area for much of Sunday and again on Monday but right now, they have very little official info to go on, Danks said.
“It’s more important that we get any information we can to try to locate where he might be,” Danks said. “We're looking for the public to let us know if anybody saw him in the Lynn Canyon/Lynn Headwaters area.”
That afternoon, the team was needed on the first pump of Mount Seymour where a woman fractured her ankle a fall. Because the helicopter was in the air, they were able to quickly pick her up and bring her to the Mount Seymour parking lot, where she could be transferred to Lions Gate Hospital.
Before the team could finally book off for the weekend, there was one more call – a couple in distress near a destination cedar tree on the Kennedy Falls trail. That area seems to be a magnet right now for hikers who are biting off more than they can chew, Danks added.
“We've honestly hoisted a lot of people out of there in the last little while. Lots. It's a pretty rough trail and I think people don't give it enough credit for being quite taxing,” he said. “Start small and work your way up to these hikes and ensure that you're actually doing the research on how long they are and what the trail conditions are.”
Danks said the team is on pace to smash records for call volume yet again, but he said the volunteers are coping well. To stave off burnout, Danks said the team has had to be more efficient, sending smaller ground teams in on foot.
“Now we're way busier. We're really splitting up the workload. We've created this capacity amongst our search manager group, amongst our air operations co-ordinators. It's not hard,” he said. “I think we're over 100 calls already… We're handling it well.”
Talon’s new Dauphin helicopter, which has night-flying capabilities and a hoist, has also been a major time- and life-saver, Danks said. Since it came into service last winter, North Shore Rescue has been called numerous times to help other search and rescue teams around Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the Lower Mainland. But he said, with the ability to get rescuers in and subjects out without having to land, it makes many missions a relatively quick and easy grab-and-go.
“That machine has been amazing for us,” he said.
