Search and rescue crew spends night on Vancouver Island's highest peak during rescue
Three hikers are safe after being rescued off of Vancouver Island’s highest peak Thursday morning.
Members of the Campbell River Search and Rescue were called by RCMP to The Golden Hinde in Strathcona Provincial Park Wednesday after three men found themselves at the top of the mountain and unprepared for an overnight stay.
“Unfortunately, their planning wasn’t perhaps the best and they found themselves fully exhausted at the top of the mountain and so with that it was … ‘we need help,’” says the team’s search manager Daryl Beck.
Beck says the original plan was to fly a helicopter into the area to extract the hikers, but there was no safe place to land, so the helicopter had to set-down far from the target and off-load two searchers, who then began hiking up to the peak. It was then determined that the rescuers and the hikers would all have to remain on the mountain Wednesday night.
A road crew was then sent to the Buttle Lake area, where it met the helicopter so overnight gear could be shuttled back up the mountain.
Beck says the mountain can present challenges for those who are unprepared.
“This is a more complex hike and from what we understand these gentlemen weren’t familiar with this mountain and they may have not have consulted the best resources in terms of routes on the mountain and planning for the mountain,” he says.
Eric Teramura was one of the two search members who stayed the evening to ensure the safety of the three hikers. He says everyone was thankful conditions weren’t colder.
“There was a slight breeze,” Teramura says. “We built half a shelter and I chose to sleep under the stars because it was pretty spectacular.”
He says the hikers appeared grateful for the assistance.
“They felt really bad, of course, but we reassured them that it’s better that this is the outcome,” Teramura says. “They pushed it too far and there’s so many places to get hurt up there. They were quite grateful.”
While last month actually tuned out to be a slower July than normal for the team, Beck says this is actually the third call at the Golden Hinde in the past few weeks.
On July 24, the Campbell River team was assisted by members of North Shore Rescue in extracting two women off of the Hinde at the 2,100 metre level.
“They couldn’t go up, they couldn’t go down, North Shore came in and was very successful in extracting them out and back to safety,” Beck says.
NSR also assisted with long-lining a hiker who fell off of Myra Falls on July 30. Their teams were used in both instances because the helicopter normally utilized by Campbell River has been unavailable.
Beck recommends those heading out get updated information on routes from climbing groups on Vancouver Island or from better books on Strathcona Park’s terrain. The three individuals who found themselves in difficulty Wednesday relied more on cell phone apps.
“These three fellows apparently were using an app that didn’t have a great deal of detail on it for what they were attempting to do,” he says.
Beck says Vancouver Island has some strenuous and complex hiking locations. He’s urging the public to be better prepared before heading out.
“We have some wonderful mountains that people come from a long way away to enjoy and we want people to keep doing that, but we want people to keep doing that safely,” he says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.