North Shore Rescue’s busy streak continues with two calls Tuesday

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – North Shore Rescue continues the frantic pace it saw through January, fielding two more calls on Tuesday.

Searchers were called to Cypress Mountain resort Tuesday evening for reports of a missing snowboarder. The person got stranded after ducking the ropes and going out of bounds in dangerous avalanche conditions.

.@NSRescue had two calls yest' after wrapping its busiest January ever w/15 rescues. The volunteer team just capped off a record-setting year w/151 calls in 2020. If you don't know what you're doing in the backcountry, NSR says stay home. @NEWS1130 BG: https://t.co/GVGDwlcxqs

— Sonia Aslam (@SoniaSAslam) February 3, 2021

NSR members were able to find the snowboarder and walk them out to safety. This was the second call of the day for NSR crews.

The team says getting called out every other day, on average, is a lot for the winter season.

In a Facebook post, the group says the calls it has been getting in recent weeks are serious, involve life-changing injuries, avalanches, and the death of a young snowshoer.

In an effort to reach more people, the SAR group has released some “lessons learned,” with the hopes that people will learn from other people’s mistakes.

“Never duck the ropes at a ski resort – they are there for a reason,” the post reads.

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Pointing to the situation the snowboarder found themselves in on Tuesday, NSR says this was their second rescue in less than two weeks in the out of bounds area on Sky Chair on Cypress.

“We’ve rescued many people from the back of Sky Chair over the years. The last rescue the subject was badly injured and has life altering injuries,” the group notes, adding people shouldn’t duck ropes that are put up to keep people out of certain backcountry areas.

“If you duck ropes you are going into uncontrolled avalanche terrain. Avalanches can injure or kill you,” the Facebook post says, adding there are cliffs, gullies, tree wells, and terrain traps that pose as dangers.

Those outdoors are also being reminded to not follow other people’s tracks outside of the resort. Always be prepared — take a satellite device with you and tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to be back, and if you do plan to go into uncontrolled terrain, you are reminded to take an avalanche course, carry the appropriate equipment, and always go with a trained partner.

And for those who continue to ignore safety signage and other warnings, NSR has a clear message: “If you see a sign that says ‘stop moving’ with a skull and cross bones on it – stop moving.”