Montezambert Creek Snowboarders

A few updates:

1. Last night we had a rescue for two lost snowboarders on Cypress. They were located in the Montezambert Creek area and we were out by about 1am. Avalanche conditions were detiorating and the last part of the post will speak to this.

2. Update - Man dies after Mt. Harvey Rescue - http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=cb2076c3-e19d-42b5-9caa-581334452a3d - article says "Hardy" but this is a typo.

3. And..an avy advisory - be safe out there this weekend!!

Special Avalanche Warning for the North Shore Mountains

The Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC) is issuing a Special Avalanche Warning for the North Shore Mountains of Vancouver and surrounding areas, including the Howe Sound Crest and extending east to the Coquihalla Summit. This warning is in place from Friday February 1 through Sunday February 3.

CAC Operations Manager John Kelly says there is an unusually weak layer in the snowpack of this region. “The colder weather earlier this month created this weakness,” he explains, “and we are concerned that recreational backcountry users in this area will not have much experience with this type of problem. Now, the recent new snow is making backcountry travel very attractive. We are issuing this warning to get the message out that an extra margin of safety is required for anyone traveling in the avalanche terrain this coming weekend.”

To increase safety margins, the CAC advises:
Stay on simpler terrain
Stay off steep slopes (steeper than the stairs in your house)
Avoid convex features, especially where the slope below is unsupported
Avoid terrain traps
Spread out when crossing avalanche runout zones.
Avoid avalanche start zones and tracks. If you must travel in these areas, go one at a time from safe point to safe point

Managing avalanche risk effectively requires an in-depth knowledge of the terrain and the snowpack. To reduce your risk, start with an Avalanche Skills Training course. The CAC’s website, avalanche.ca, has a list of course providers near you. Every person in your group needs appropriate rescue gear, and you should always consult the avalanche and weather conditions before heading out. Using the Avaluator, the CAC’s new avalanche decision-making tool, will also help you reduce your risk. Public avalanche forecasts and information reports can be obtained at avalanche.ca or by phone at 1-800-667-1105.

Helicopter Flight Rescue System (HFRS) Training

Helicopter Flight Rescue System (HFRS) Training - Sunday January 27th, 2008

On Sunday January 27th, 2008 North Shore Rescue team members participated in a skills workshop practicing pickoffs from steep snow slopes using HFRS. Team members arrived at Mount Seymour parking lot at 0800 and headed to the preselected exercise location. Upon arrival, NSR members put crampons on their boots and descended the 45 degree slope on ropes. The drill required the members on ropes, to dig a platform into the snow, from which a patient could be packaged, and a HFRS rescuer could land and remove the patient with the Aerial Rescue Platform. This was done by two teams of three, overseen by the technical instructors on site, Dave Sulina and Stan Sovdat.

When the platforms were completed, members placed a separate anchor for which the HFRS rescuer would anchor into upon landing. The purpose of this was to provide an independent attachment, should the helicopter be lifted by an updraft causing the rescuer to come up. In this situation rather than pulling everyones anchor, it would only affect the rescuer who is safely attached to the master attach point (map) of the helicopter long line.

Upon completing these tasks, members waited for the other portion of the exercise to get underway. The helicopter flown by Peter Murray of Talon Helicopters arrived at NSR Bone Creek helispot facility where the HFRS coordinator in training boarded the aircraft and flew to the training site to assess the weather and location. With variable weather, and the time frame of a skills workshop, the HFRS coordinator in training made the call to scrap the HFRS portion of the exercise. Overall the exercise was a tremendous success, with NSR members practicing essential skills, and the HFRS coordinator in training being given the opportunity to make a risk assessment call, which was the correct one.

Grouse Mountain

Over the last few weeks there have been a number of rescues. This past weekend a climber was rescued from Mt. Harvey by Lions Bay and North Shore SAR. He was evacuated via stretcher with severe head trauma. At this point he is alive but his condition is unknown.

(Photo Credit: Wade Shaw)

At the beginning of January I also took the Canadian Avalanche Association Level 1 course in Fernie with Jimmy, Curtis, and Guy. This is a 7 day intensive Avalanche operations course, covering avalanche prediction, prepardness, terrain evaluation, snow study, beacon searching etc. The days were around 12 hours and started at 6:45am. Great course - lots of information. NSR has committed to providing more funds for members to take these kinds of courses to help improve safety while we are operating during times of poor snow stability.

FROM NORTH SHORE NEWS
Out-of-bounders trigger risky rescue
Father and son from PoCo put rescuers at risk from avalanche

Bethany Lindsay, North Shore NewsPublished: Wednesday, January 02, 2008

A father and his son are lucky to be home safe after getting trapped in deep snow when they deliberately snowboarded out-of-bounds at Grouse Mountain on Saturday.
The risky six-hour rescue has prompted North Shore Rescue and Grouse Mountain ski patrol to remind skiers and snowboarders that they aren't only risking their own lives when they choose to disrespect trail boundaries.
"If your own personal safety is not a good enough motivation to stay in-bounds, consider the safety of the people who have to find you," said Chris Dagenais, a spokesman for Grouse Mountain.

The 46-year-old father and his 14-year-old son, who live in Port Coquitlam, admitted during a debriefing with North Shore Rescue and the RCMP that they had deliberately climbed under the ropes at the top of the Olympic chairlift to enter the gully system between Thunderbird Ridge and Fromme Mountain. At 3:30 p.m., they found themselves in snow too deep to snowboard or walk through, and called 9-1-1.
Members of the mountain's ski patrol team managed to find the general location of the two men, and stayed in voice contact with them until North Shore Rescue volunteers arrived with back-up recruited from Coquitlam and Lions Bay and avalanche dogs from the Canadian Avalanche Association.
Ski patrollers were stationed near the top of the gully to monitor snow conditions, while North Shore Rescue sent an advance "hasty" team up into the gully, with two support teams below in case of an avalanche.
"I cannot overemphasize that there was a very real danger to the hasty team," Jones said. The snow in the gully reached their chests, and it was snowing heavily. "This was not a normal search operation."
The hasty team traversed the approximately 150 metres uphill on snowshoes to reach the trapped men shortly before 9 p.m.
As the rescue team was working its way out of the gully with the two snowboarders, who were cold but uninjured, Jones received word from the ski patrol above that they had seen several small avalanches.
The team managed to reach the rescue base safely, but "it was a very tense 45 minutes for all of us," Jones said.
Avalanches aren't the only danger for people who go off the marked trails, Dagenais said. The boundaries also keep skiers safe from steep waterfalls, cliffs, fallen trees, rocks, and dangerous ice.
"Out of bounds means out of bounds," Dagenais said. "It gets pretty frustrating when, year after year, you see people knowingly transgressing these boundaries."
Jones said that he hates making the choice to gamble the lives of his volunteers, many of whom are young men with families, to rescue people who have knowingly entered backcountry areas without the proper equipment and training.
"This was a completely unnecessary call," Jones said. "There has to be a level of respect for what the volunteer search and rescue people are asked to do."
The ski hill will give the snowboarders a few days to recuperate before revoking their season's passes.

Google Earth Image of Rescue Route (credit: Doug Pope)