Fraser Valley/Fraser Canyon – Hope SAR was tasked out Monday August 3, to rescue an injured hiker on Markhor Peak. Hope SAR are thankful for the assistance of the Chilliwack Search and Rescue CDFL team for their assisting in bringing the subject off the mountain. Also thanks to Valley Helicopters for taking time away from the wildfire work to assist with two flights on this call.
The team was unable to locate the subject from the air and was dropped off midway down the mountain. They hiked up until they located the subject very near the peak and stabilized him until the CDFL team could fly him down.
A few important lessons. First and foremost, Markhor is a class 3 to class 4 climb. SAR often see posts on social media of hikers/climbers who have completed this hike and want to share their experiences. We need people to understand that this is a hike that requires some advanced skills. They are happy for people to share their pictures, but it would be great if the posts could include healthy disclaimers as to the difficulty of this hike. And to the casual hikers looking for new mountains to conquer, SAR strongly recommend a good deal of research before heading out.
People should also be aware that there is not reliable cell service on any of the mountains. It comes and goes, especially on the Coquihalla. SAR are very thankful that there were other hikers on the mountain Monday who were able to call for help and give early assistance.
This hiker fell 30 feet but he was thankfully wearing a helmet, which definitely prevented a much more serious injury. Falls on this mountain can very easily have a much different outcome.
