Two hikers rescued from B.C.’s Brunswick Mountain, one in critical condition | Canada Voices

Two hikers among a group of 14 from different parts of Metro Vancouver had to be rescued and hospitalized, with one in critical condition, after falling in steep, snowy terrain during a trek near Lions Bay, B.C.

Maria Masiar, a manager with Lions Bay Search and Rescue, said the group of people in their 40s and 50s was descending from the summit of Brunswick Mountain around midday Saturday, when a woman slipped and fell between 10 and 30 metres.

Masiar said a tree eventually stopped her fall, and two other members of the group, including the organizer of the hike, tried to reach her to help.

They too lost control, and one of the men continued to slide down the mountain, coming to rest in snowpack just above a waterfall.

“He basically got wedged … and it’s extraordinary, because you can see what is below, and he got very lucky in that sense,” Masiar said in an interview.

The man was in critical condition at the time of his rescue, and Masiar said she could not provide any update or information about his injuries.

The rescue effort involved two helicopters and a rope system, with the Lions Bay team calling its counterpart based on Metro Vancouver’s North Shore to help.

Conditions were treacherous on Saturday, as the snowpack was saturated with moisture from last week’s atmospheric river event. It then froze, forming crusty layers before starting to melt again in the daylight, Masiar said.

The upper parts of the mountain are exposed, “and certainly in winter conditions right now, it’s full mountaineering terrain requiring crampons and ice axes,” she said.

Masiar said the hikers were wearing micro spikes on their feet and using hiking poles, and those who fell were not carrying equipment to help them come to a halt.

Two in the group managed to reach the man and woman who fell, staying with them until rescue crews arrived, she said. All four were eventually extracted by helicopter, while the rest of the group made its own way down the mountain.

A social media post from North Shore Rescue said an emergency room doctor was among those lowered down to the seriously injured man, while Lions Bay team members secured the woman who was provided first aid and taken to hospital.

Photos taken from a helicopter and posted by the team show the hikers fell down a steep, snow-covered slope dotted with trees and rocky outcroppings.

The members of the hiking group came from different locations in Metro Vancouver and met on a fairly regular basis, Masiar said.

She said it may be sunny and warm in the city at this time of year, but conditions are still wintry and dangerous in alpine areas.

Masiar urged anyone heading into the mountains to be prepared with the appropriate equipment and be aware of the current conditions.

If someone does fall, the recommendation from the search and rescue team is to stay in one place and call for help, she added.