Hikers are being reminded that they should still be prepared for snow on trails at higher elevations on the North Shore after a slide down a snowy trail led to a neck injury on the weekend.
Two women had to call for help in Mount Seymour Provincial Park on Sunday (June 20) after they slid on a steep section of the Pump Peak trail still heavily covered with snow.
Dale Weidman, a search manager with North Shore Rescue, said crews were called to assist the women at 1:15 p.m.
He said the friends were hiking in a spot to the southwest on the Pump Peak trail when they slid around 10 metres and one woman injured her neck.
“The injury that the lady had was more a result of a friend falling onto her because they both fell,” Weidman explained.
A NSR crew was dropped into the field near the location via helicopter and they were able to walk to the woman and prepare her for transport, added Weidman.
“They had to package the lady that was injured because there was a neck injury,” Weidman said. “They had to stabilize her and stabilize the neck.”
NSR successfully hoisted the woman out of the field and transferred her to an ambulance with the help of Talon Helicopters. Her friend wasn’t injured during the fall.
Weidman said the two women were in light hiking boots and may have avoided the incident if they had been wearing micro-spikes.
“If they had a little more traction on their feet, they probably wouldn’t have slid,” he said.
Later that day, NSR headed to Mount Strachan at Cypress Provincial Park to investigate calls for help that were heard by another hiker.
Weidman said multiple ground teams and a helicopter team exhaustively searched the area, but they were not able to locate anyone in distress.
He said it was likely the individual made their own way out and rescue teams stood down.
Meanwhile, District of North Vancouver Fire Rescue Service crews were also kept busy on Sunday with a trail rescue at Grouse Mountain’s Grouse Grind and a mountain bike rescue at the 200 block of Rondoval Crescent.
With snow still melting on the North Shore mountains, NSR is reminding hikers to remain cautious on the trails and be prepared by bringing the appropriate footwear – including microspikes.
Elisia Seeber is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
