Daniel Hughes Remains Found

Vancouver Sun Article -

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Missing+cyclist+remains+identified/1806491/story.html

Saturday Tasks

Saturday morning we were paged out for a 14 year old male who had a fractured ankle near Granite Falls up Indian Arm.

The HFRS team was scrambled and NSR was on scene quickly via Talon Helicopters. BC Parks was also on scene as they were already in the area.





The subject received first aid from BC Parks, and was then extricated via HFRS and flown back to our Bone Creek SAR Station where he was handed over to BCAS.


Shortly after we were notified of an another rescue on Cypress. NSR flew to Cypress and quickly picked up the injured hiker/snowboarder and handed him over the BCAS at the Cypress Parking lot. The photos are from the first rescue up Indian Arm (Photo Credit Rob Wilson).

MIT Exam

Last Saturday we completed our Members in Training (MIT) exam on Seymour.

The 3 MIT's had to complete a number of stations demonstrating their proficiency in a number of areas including -

Rappelling
Ascending a rope using prussiks
Anchor selection and creation
Knots
Stretcher Rigging
Rope Rescue 3 to 1 system
Tandem Prussik belay
Avalanche Beacon Search
First Aid/Hypothermia Treatment
Shelter Building
Map and Compass and GPS skills

The exam went well, and congratulations to our MIT's for completing the exam!

If you are interested in joining NSR - now is the time to apply! We are holding interviews over the summer.

Training and Seymour Search

We started off last night with training, equipment maintenance, and reviewing some video of Hannes' accident site. I will leave this for another discussion as there were some interesting points about the type of snowpack that is present this year.

Nearing the end of training we received a call from a missing backcountry snowboarder on Seymour who was lost. Due to the events of last week you could see our motivation was a little lacking, however, rescues don't take a break unfortunately.

We headed up Seymour at about 9pm and started hiking/snowshoeing down Suicide Gully where we believed the subject to be. As we descended the gully we set off parachute flares, and talked to Gord (the subject) on the phone. He informed us he could see the flares so we knew we were closing in.

The gully had large holes and undercut snow increasing the danger of breaking through a snowbridge and falling into the creek - careful travel was required. As well, we had a few parachute flare malfunctions, one of them burning a hole in Greg W.'s glove as it burned without launching and another one melting my glove as it launched - reminding us to always wear gloves when launching flares.


We found his tracks and began following them down the gulley. The tracks kept leading up the side of the gulley and back down, dramatically increasing distance travelled and elevation gain and loss - it was a bit of stairmaster hike.

At one point Gord ascended the snow slope and his tracks dissapeared into some cliff bands. We opted to drop down and around and luckily gained voice contact with him and were able to access him via a steep snow slope.

We found Gord (aka Gord the Mountain Goat) at about 2:30am, he was unijured but cold as he was wearing only shorts and t-shirt and it was close to zero degrees. Greg and Mike G. provided some warmer clothes, food and water and then helped Gord down the steep snow slope and back onto our up track.

We started the hike out, and got back to the parking lot at about 4:30am.

EDIT: Note from Tim Jones

Just as we were debriefing a second time on Johannes's tragic accident our SAR MGRs pagers went off . I took the call from the RCMP and found out we had a potential Suicide Gully task for a lost snowboarder. Everyone in the room looked at each other but we immediately were back in the saddle again. It was a long drawn out affair as you will see reading John's Blog but to me is was sign that our team is coping very well with the loss of our teammate and is doing what we do just as well.

A very proud moment to be a Member and Team Leader of North Shore Rescue

Tim Jones
Team Leader
North Shore Rescue

Injured Snowshoer Mt. Seymour 1st Pump

From Feb 8 2009 Rescue. Sorry posting this one a few weeks late.


NSR and Mt Seymour Resorts Ski Patrol responded to an area below the 1st Peak of Mt. Seymour for an injured male snowshoer. The male subject broke his lower leg after falling on the icy trail. NSR members landed close by in a Talon Helicopters A Star.

The subject had a traction splint applied and was given morphine for his pain. The subject was then lowered on a short belay to the staged helicopter. HFRS was not required.

The subject was flown out to the Seymour Resorts Parking Lot and transported to Lion Gate Hospital by BC Ambulance.

NSR woould like to thank all the passing hikers and skiiers who helped on the call.

Map of Christmas Seymour Rescue

This map shows GPS coordinates of the rescue on Christmas Day of two missing skiers (and one bonus skier who we didn't know was missing).

This map is a little misleading - much of this terrain is considerably steeper than it appears and goes through avalanche terrain. The two subjects were caught in an avalanche in this area.

Please note this is NOT A TRAIL, and only shows the path of the rescuers. I would not recommend going into this terrain.

Photo Credit: Doug Pope

Thank You to Agencies re: Mt. Seymour Task

(Posted on behalf of Tim Jones)

As the Operational Search Manager for the search of snow boarder Jamie Martin who was lost on Mt. Seymour for 3 nights, I would like to sincerely thank the many organizations and individuals who assisted our team in his successful rescue

• Talon Helicopters
• RCMP Air Section
• North Vancouver RCMP
• Mt. Seymour Resorts
• Lions Bay Search and Rescue
• Coquitlam Search and Rescue
• Metro Vancouver
• Canadian Avalanche Dog Rescue Association
• Canadian Avalanche Center Forecasters
• BC Parks
• Provincial Emergency Program

As it happens many times in major stories such as this, the efforts of so many are unintentionally overlooked. On behalf of all the members of North Shore Rescue we sincerely appreciate your involvement and support.
Sincerely,
Tim Jones
Team Leader
North Shore Rescue

Snowboarder Missing on Mt. Seymour

Search continues today for missing Ontario snowboarder on Mt. Seymour. Read the Canadian Press article

Snowboarder Rescued from Mt. Seymour

18-year-old snowboarder Nate Outerbridge spent 8 hours in suicide gully on Mt. Seymour after getting disoriented in the heavy fog. He was seperated from his group and ended up out of bounds. NSR rescuers walked Nate to safety at approximately 1am.

See the video summary on the CTV web site.

The CTC Web site identifies Nate as a snowmobiler when in fact he was snowboarding, not snowmobiling.

Skiers Found! 3 for the Price of 2

I have just arrived home from Mt. Seymour after a full day of searching for 2 lost skiers. I received the call this morning after North Shore Rescue made cell phone contact with them near Theta Lake in the North Shore Mountains of Vancouver.

70cm of heavy white snow had fallen in the last few days and we went to go and find them on foot. We trucked through the heavy snow as fast as we could, knowing that a young couple had spent the previous night, cold and wet in the deep snow. We travelled to the target area for the people in need of rescue, as indentified by the helicopter team earlier in the day.

On the way, we ran into a disoriented skier that was also in need of help, stuck in the waist deep snow, trying to climb to an imaginary safety uphill.

All afternoon and into evening we trudged through the deep snow, and finally we ran into the young couple that had spent a harrowing night in the dark and wet on Mt. Seymour. They told us how they experienced an avalanche that buried them to their necks that they were able to dig out of and call for rescue.

They knew that they are lucky to be alive on this Christmas evening. After a long and strenious hike out of the North Shore wilderness, everybody is safe and sound and back with their friends and family.

All of the people involved in the rescue gave up their Christmas Day to help and were able to deliver 3 people home safely to their families, which is the best Christmas present that anybody could ask for.

Please enjoy this holiday season in the mountains but be safe, as avalanche danger is high with all of the snow that we have received in the last week.

CTV is covering the story: BC Couple Lucky to Be Alive After Avalanche Drama

Boy Scout Rescued from Mt. Seymour

A scout troop out for a snowshoe trip in Mount Seymour Provincial Park got a first-hand look at backcountry rescue techniques Saturday morning. See the story in the Northshore Outlook: Injured Boy Scout rescued by helicopter from Mt. Seymour

Mt. Seymour Medical Rescue

Seymour Rescue - Medical Rescue
Yesterday afternoon we were paged out for a medical rescue on Mt. Seymour.

The subject had slipped 25 meters on snow, and hit a tree, badly breaking his femur. NSR quickly deployed resources to the field via chopper and the subject was long lined out and delivered to BC Ambulance at the Bone Creek SAR station.

CTV has some news coverage on it here - http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/ go to the 6 minute mark, and you need to watch the short ad first. Unfortunately this feed updates everyday, so it may not be up for long. I tried to grab the video off the site with no luck.