Search ends happily for two hikers on Vancouver Island
Posted October 2, 2013 12:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – It’s a happy ending to a gruelling multi-day search for two hikers missing in deep snow and foul weather on Vancouver Island.
Comox Valley Search and Rescue has tweeted that 22-year-old Jean Simon Lessard and 31-year-old Christopher Yao have been found safe.
The Victoria residents are being airlifted to safety, two full days after they were reported missing on a hike to Mount Albert Edward in Strathcona Provincial Park, about 50 kilometres due west of Courtenay, near Buttle Lake.
The men set out on the weekend, despite warnings of a major incoming storm, and were reported overdue on Monday morning.
Rescue teams have been hampered by heavy early-autumn snows, as well as fog and rain, but crews planned to search the back side of Mount Albert Edward, hoping the men would be found in that area.