Terrace Search and Rescue coordinated with the Royal Canadian Air Force’s search and rescue squadron, based at Comox on Vancouver Island, to mount a dramatic rescue of two skiers stranded in the Shames Mountain backcountry late Saturday night, Feb. 9.
The skiers left from Shames Mountain early Saturday morning to travel along the mountain ridge line on Mount Remo to Anderson Cabin, five kilometres up at high elevation. They became lost on top of the mountain after dark and were about three hours from their destination, says Dave Jephson, Terrace Search and Rescue (SAR) vice-president.
As the sun set and temperatures dropped below -20 C, the skiers’ situation became dire. They were able to radio to a third party, who then called Terrace SAR around 6:30 p.m. for help.
Jephson says the original plan was to send in a crew that would ski on the ridgeline for two to four hours to try and find the two skiers, but the lack of light made it difficult for avalanche technicians to properly assess the risk, and it was too dangerous for SAR technicians to conduct the rescue on foot.
The second option then was to fly in with a local helicopter in the morning, but because the skiers were not prepared to safely spend the night on the mountain in freezing temperatures, Jephson says the situation turned “grave.”
“We feel they made an error in expectations and didn’t have the correct equipment or the knowledge to be on top of the mountain,” he says.
“You need to take enough supplies to survive a night or two out there in case something goes wrong. Here’s a perfect example — they started out on their trip, it ended up being worse conditions than they thought, they got trapped halfway and had nothing to prepare themselves. Always prepare and plan for the worst.”
In the meantime, the skiers were able to get themselves out of the weather by digging a hole in the snow to shield themselves from the wind.
“They did a good job of that, but even the [responding] SAR technicians were not sure of the condition the subjects were going to be in,” Jephson says.
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A call was made to RCMP, who requested support from Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Victoria, who then called in search and rescue technicians from the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in Comox, B.C. Terrace SAR can coordinate with military personnel if a helicopter is needed to assist in a life-threatening, late night rescue.
“There’s no one here locally who can fly at night…[CFB Comox] have night-time navigation aids, and when they leave their base they leave with everything,” says Terrace SAR president Dwayne Sheppard.
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“They made the judgment call, and we agreed that this could end with loss of life or frostbite.”
A crew of five flew from Comox to Terrace in a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter used for air and sea rescues. Sheppard estimated it took at least two hours for the aircraft to travel from Comox to Terrace.
The two skiers were located just after midnight on Feb. 10. and the pilot was able to successfully land on the mountain top, when crews then retrieved the skiers and flew them to the Northwest Regional Airport. BC Ambulance Services transferred them to Mills Memorial Hospital for treatment for hypothermia and frostbite. They were released later that day.
“The conditions were perfect in the sense that there were clear skies, the JRCC crew were not on another mission…it is not their mandate to do this,” Jephson says. “Phenomenal skills of the search and rescue technicians, we’re very fortunate that in B.C. we do have that resource so close to us to assist.”
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