Search and rescue teams respond to multiple calls over weekend

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Search and rescue teams have been keeping busy this weekend, with multiple rescues over the last 48 hours.

Search and rescue teams were called to help a pair of hikers and a pair of climbers who ran into trouble on local mountains Saturday night, before being rescued Sunday morning.

The pair of climbers ran into trouble on West Lion and luckily, a Lions Bay Search and Rescue Team member happened to be camping on the summit and spotted their headlights in the distance.

Martin Colwell with Lions Bay Search and Rescue says that lucky coincidence really helped with the rescue.

“They had ropes. They had harnesses, some water supply clothing and a little bit of food. So we felt it was safer for everyone if they just tied themselves into the mountain for the night. And then we’d come and rescue them in the morning.”

Colwell explains the pair made their way off route and found themselves in an area that was “not safe to try and go down, even in daylight, and they couldn’t go up either.”

While it was a “nervous night,” Squamish Search and Rescue and North Shore Rescue got to the climbers and starting helping them down at 5:30 a.m.

North Shore Rescue eventually dropped down a helicopter line and clipped two climbers onto the rope.

RELATED ARTICLE: B.C. search and rescue calls spike during COVID-19 pandemic despite lack of international tourism

Meantime, on Seymour, two hikers spent the night in the cold after one of them hurt their ankle.

“It was a relatively minor ankle injury, but it would have been a very uncomfortable hike out. And apart from being cold and scared overnight with a whole bunch of mosquito bites, they managed to get by,” North Shore Rescue Search Manager Jim Loree‎ tells NEWS 1130.

He adds rescue crews were able to hike overnight to get to the hikers.

Both teams say they’ve been swamped in recent weeks and are reminding people to take safety precautions before heading out.

“I really just want to enforce the importance of planning your height, starting early, bringing all that preparation and proper footwear is key,” Loree‎ says.

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