Membership

We do not place individual members' information on our web site, however you're in the right place to answer the question. "How do I join?" But first, some important information.

Some Questions and Answers

What is North Shore Rescue?
NSR is a group of men and women who search for people, missing, or believed to be missing, in Vancouver's North Shore mountains. A typical scenario is a person who goes hiking or skiing or snowboarding at one of the local mountains and doesn't come home that night. At midnight his/her Mom/Dad/spouse/roommate calls the police. The police determine he/she is still on the mountain and they call NSR.

A major component of NSR is education. Our lives would be much easier if nobody went missing, or had some equipment with them when they did. So team members also give talks to school, guides, scouts, etc groups, do booth-duty at the ski show, make appearances on radio talk shows, and so forth.

How big is the team?
Approximately 40 or so people. However not everyone goes into the field. There are search managers, communications people, media and public relations people, and so forth.

How much time does it take up?
Lots! Each member can spend literally hundreds of hours a year on team activities. Training is every Tuesday night, plus one weekend out of four. Plus special courses, for example a Wilderness First Aid course. Plus other activities like fundraising or education. And finally the call-outs, often at night, and often in bad weather. The team consumes a lot of its members' free time.

How often is the team called out?
We average 80 to 90 calls a year, which means almost two per week, on average. We're busy all year round. During the summer we mostly look for missing or injured hikers, and during the winter it's often skiiers and snowboarders. So we consistently receive call-outs throughout the year. Take a look at our callout statistics.

How long do the calls take?
It varies tremendously. A "typical" call, if such a thing exists, will start in the evening and finish sometime in the following morning. Some calls last for only a couple of hours. But some calls will run for days.

What area does the team cover?
We cover Vancouver's north shore mountains and canyons. This includes the following areas: Grouse Mountain, Cypress Bowl, Hollyburn Mountain, Mount Seymour, Capilano Canyon, Lynn Canyon, Lynn Headwaters, and the surrounding peaks and trails. Assisting other teams will take us from right next door, such as the Lions, to more distant regions such as elsewhere in British Columbia and into the United States.

Where does the money come from for all this?
There is some government funding. This goes towards the team's significant expenses for equipment such as ropes, climbing hardware, stretchers, medical and trauma treatment equipment, and so forth. This is insufficient to cover expenses. The team also receives donations from grateful individuals and families. Team members also spend significant amounts of their time fund-raising.

Do you get paid?
No. Everybody is a volunteer, providing their own time for training and searches. In addition everyone provides their own personal equipment. Some expenses are paid, such as gas for driving to a search site. However almost everything else is paid for by the team members themselves. We are regularly asked about employment or career opportunities. Because everybody is a volunteer the normal concepts of employment or career do not apply.

What about dogs?
We sometimes use dogs in searches. See the NSR dogs page for more information.

Are there other teams?
Yes. There are search and rescue teams in Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Fraser Valley, Lions Bay, Squamish, Whistler, and more. Try the PEP home page for information on contacting these teams.

Time Commitment
This point cannot be emphasised enough. The team will consume a very large proportion of your once-free time. It will impact your social life. The pager you carry is an animal that demands attention. There are countless stories of members having their days and nights rudely interrupted by call-outs. Of spending half the day making dinner for guests, only to cancel it at 5 pm when the pager starts beeping. Of leaving dinner parties halfway through due to the pager beeping. You can no longer truly commit to virtually anything, because you'll never know if that pager will go off one hour before you were due to get there.

The same applies for work. It's crucial you work in an understanding environment that can tolerate you suddenly leaving with no warning.

Think about it. How much time can you afford to give up? What other hobbies and interests do you have? Just how badly do you want to join? This team will consume literally hundreds of hours of your once-free time every year.

Finally, how much time do you spend in town? People who travel a lot may not be very suitable for the team, as they may not be available when required. If your work or recreation keeps you regularly out of town this should be a consideration.

Skill and Equipment Requirements
North Shore Rescue receives up to 100 membership applications each year. Some of these applicants hope that joining the team will turn them into mountaineers. This is not the case! Due to the large variety of mountain and wilderness situations the team can be exposed to, it is simply impossible to provide "from the ground up" training in all of these. The objective of team training is to enhance existing skills, not teach novice ones.

Therefore it is important applicants already have experience in a variety of outdoor situations. Hiking, climbing, mountaineering, backcountry skiing, snowshoeing and so forth are all very useful. A mixture of summer and winter experience is very desirable.

A related subject is equipment. It's assumed that aspiring team members are already experienced "outdoors-type" people. Hence it is also assumed that they already own the appropriate outdoor equipment, such as backpacks, ice-axes, crampons, boots, clothing, and so forth. Team members must be able to travel through a mountain environment in any weather for extended periods of time, and thus need the personal equipment required to do this. Specialized equipment such as a rope-rescue chest harness is provided by the team. However the vast majority of equipment required is normal outdoor gear, and must already be owned by the applicant.

A good knowledge of Vancouver's north shore mountains is critical. Being familiar with the many peaks, trails and watercourses is invaluable when trying to navigate them at night, in a snowstorm, as part of a search.

Holding a current First Aid certificate is a membership requirement.


If you are still interested in joining after reading the above please fill out and return the application form.