Ridge Meadows (Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue) – With this warm up, the avalanche risk is rising in the Fraser Valley.
From Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue: 4 hikers were stranded in the alpine of Golden Ears for 4 days during dangerous avalanche conditions before being rescued.
RMSAR, along with our partners from Coquitlam Search and Rescue and Talon Helicopters managed to extract the group Tuesday (January 13) afternoon after multiple attempts and waiting for weather to improve since Saturday.
The group of hikers summitted Golden Ears on Saturday during clear weather but they were later surprised by a storm that brought whiteout conditions. They were prepared to spend the night and managed to make their way to the emergency shelter on Panorama Ridge. They put out a call for help using Apple SOS and RMSAR soon were activated Saturday evening.
Weather was too poor to attempt a rescue by air and the avalanche danger was too high for ground teams to head in by foot. Knowing they were safe in the shelter, RMSAR waited until Sunday morning to try to access them by helicopter. A helicopter rescue team was able to get within a few hundred meters of their location, but unfortunately not close enough to safely access the group. Another attempt was made Monday, but weather was even worse. The group had also ran out of food and other supplies monday evening.
Finally on Tuesday a break in weather gave RMSAR the ability to reach the shelter by helicopter. A Coquitlam SAR/RMSAR helicopter rescue team were used in case hoist was needed for extraction. However, conditions had improved enough that Talon Helicopters was able to land next to the shelter.
The group was tired and hungry, but otherwise in good shape. They were flown out to Pitt Meadows Airport where they were met by family.
A couple key lessons from this incident:
-Always expect weather to change rapidly in the mountains.
-Always be prepared to spend the night in an emergency.
-Always check avalanche conditions before heading out into avalanche terrain.
-Always have the equipment and training to navigate or avoid avalanche terrain.
Rescue is never rapid in the mountains like it is in the city. In this case it took days. Fortunately this group was well prepared and had a shelter to protect them. Otherwise the outcome may have been different.
