By Cam Fortems
Kamloops This Week
“It’s a historic search,” said Alan Hobler, search manager for Kamloops Search and Rescue.
“It’s the first documented case of a search and rescue in B.C. finding someone with drones.”
The unmanned aerial vehicles were operated by Kamloops firm Hummingbird Drones, which contracts for uses, including firefighting surveillance.
The DJI Matrice drones were equipped with a FLIR Vue Pro camera operated by employees of Hummingbird Drones.
Hobler said his group received a report at about 6:30 p.m. Monday for a report of two missing snowboarders who went out of bounds.
Ski patrol noticed five additional ski tracks that crossed the same boundary.
“They saw the snowboard tracks and they figured, ‘If we follow them, they must know where they’re going,’” Hobler said.
The five skiers were members of one family. They eventually split into two groups, with the teens forging ahead, but getting no closer to escaping the Henderson Creek area.
Search and rescue dispatched backcountry skiers and avalanche technicians, while the drones were operated from a base camp.
The drones found four people and rescuers on skis located the other three lost snowboarders.
The seven people were found late Monday night and at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday in three separate groups.
Hobler said lost skiers or snowboarders are typically given snowshoes so they can walk out, in this case the walk being a hike of about one kilometre
The area funnels skiers into the creek, into which they typically wade in an effort to get out.
This can quickly lead to hypothermia.
“Thankfully it was warm,” Hobler said.
All seven people are believed to be tourists.
Hobler acknowledged the principle of cost to taxpayers comes up in searches, particularly in cases where recreational skiers and snowboarders knowingly go out of bounds.
But he said search and rescue does not advocate charging for searches because people may be less likely to report immediately, causing a delay.
“People will wait to call until it’s too late,” he said.
