VANCOUVER — Two skiers who were caught in an avalanche on a West Vancouver mountain have been rescued after a frigid overnight stay.
North Shore Search and Rescue says a helicopter flew to Cypress Mountain and crews rescued the men from an out-of-bounds area with a long line just before 9:30 a.m.
The two skiers have been rescued safely. They are now being taken into an ambulance pic.twitter.com/ebMqUHQsgt
— Farrah Merali (@FarrahMerali) December 12, 2016
The skiers were caught in an avalanche on Sunday afternoon and were forced to stay overnight after the search had to be called off due to a high avalanche risk in the area.
Two skiers who spent a cold night on Cypress Mountain have just been rescued by NSSR long line crew. pic.twitter.com/5Vmh3wG0xj
— Shannon Paterson (@ctv_shannon) December 12, 2016
Search manager Doug Pope says the men reported by text message that they were safe where they were, and volunteers gave them instructions on how to stay warm.
Pope says the men are being assessed by paramedics and will likely be taken to hospital, but it appears they're in "pretty good" condition and crews are relieved.
Two skiers who spent a cold night on Cypress Mountain have just been rescued by NSSR long line crew. pic.twitter.com/5Vmh3wG0xj
— Shannon Paterson (@ctv_shannon) December 12, 2016
He says there were signs warning skiers not to go out of bounds in the area known as Tony Baker Gully, which is named after a teenager who died there.
Pope says the frightening situation should be a warning to other skiers.
"This worked out OK but you can just see a scenario where it doesn't. They could have died there yesterday in that avalanche."
Temperatures dipped as low as -6 C and the skiers were likely unprepared for an overnight stay, Pope added.
"It would have been a very, very cold night for them," Pope said on Monday. "They were caught in an avalanche yesterday and managed to escape, but they would have been wet from that. Trudging in that gulley all afternoon would have got them wet.
"I'm sure it was a miserable night."
He said it's not known if the men are from British Columbia but one of them is 42 years old.
Conditions remain extremely hazardous on the North Shore mountains, with Avalanche Canada warning that thick new slabs can be triggered by humans.
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