The Rudiments of Alpine

Anne G., 26, and Quentin C., 25, were rescued from a slot canyon on North Creek on Wednesday, September 6th. G. and C. headed out for a three-day canyoneering trip down the right fork of the creek on September 2nd. By mid-morning on the 3rd, they realized that they were off-route in a difficult slot canyon with numerous pools. Once they realized that they were unable to climb back up or continue down the canyon, they stopped and waited for rescuers. They were reported overdue when they failed to appear for work; the park was notified late on Tuesday afternoon. A helicopter search was begun and they were found after a space blanket was spotted in the bottom of the narrow canyon. The helicopter landed nearby and rangers rappelled to the pair. Rangers taught them how to ascend a rope and assisted them out of the 400-foot-deep canyon. Canyoneering is a sport requiring special equipment and a variety of skills, including map reading, rappelling, ascending ropes, and prior experience. Said ranger Kurt Spears: "Rappelling is not the only skill needed to safely negotiate these canyons. We're seeing a lot of people without skill or experience. You can't rely on just reading a route description."

Mark Davis died in a rappelling accident at Indian Creek, Utah. Davis was an experienced climber, over 25 years, with successful ascents in Patagonia and of El Capitan in Yosemite, among other places. He was 50 years old...He was rappelling with a tube-style belay device. Thirty feet to the ground, Davis suddenly fell, headfirst. He hit a rock outcropping, tumbled and then hit the ground again.

Dancho Nichols
Do what's safe no matter what the sheep are doing, be a leader, be redundant. Check and replace gear, tie rope ends, wear a helmet, use an autoblock, or be an example

March 04, 2017

North Shore Rescue confirms at least one person has been buried by an Avalanche on Cypress Mountain.

Team Leader Mike Danks says details are still sketchy, but says the avalanche occurred in an out of bounds area...Avalanche Canada’s forecast for the day gave an avalanche danger rating of “Considerable” for Saturday on the South Coast, warning “while the light wind and lack of snowfall on Saturday may seam benign, the mountains are currently primed for human triggered avalanches.”

NSR air and medical team are with the subject in Tony Baker Gully and he has been dug out. The subject will be long lined out to Capilano Gate SAR station.

Rescue officials in British Columbia say skiers rescued from an avalanche in Cypress Provincial Park could have died had they not been carrying proper gear.

The skier had multiple injuries from the slide, prompting rescue crews decided to fly him closer to hospital rather than waiting to transfer him to an ambulance.

North Shore Rescue says the man is now in hospital in serious condition.

They say he would have died had the pair not been trained to respond to an avalanche and carry the necessary equipment.

Avalanche Canada had issued warnings for the alpine and treeline areas of South Coast mountains, including Cypress, this weekend.

The organization said naturally-occurring avalanches were possible, while human-triggered events were likely.

The organization also reported an avalanche on the backside of the mountain on Friday, saying the snow conditions were heavy and wind-affected.

UPDATE: 5:41 p.m.

North Shore Rescue says a downed skier after an avalanche is alive because of his and his skiing partner's preparedness.

NSR says the avalanche occurred while two skiers were skiing on Hollyburn Mountain. One of the skiers triggered an avalanche, according to a Facebook post, pulling that skier down about 400 feet through trees.

The avalanche took the skier off a cliff, and buried him in Tony Baker Gully.

NSR says the skiers had avalanche beacons, probes and shovels, which helped the second skier to locate his downed partner. He dug six feet into the snow, clearing snow from his partner's face to allow him to breathe.

NSR responded to the area by helicopter after being notified of the incident by cell phone. Members of the rescue service were able to get boots on the ground near the skiers and began providing first aid.

The man was flown to the Capilano Search and Rescue station by long line under the helicopter, having suffered multiple injuries. NSR made the "extraordinary" decision to transfer him into the helicopter, due to the severity of his condition.

He was flown to Grand Boulevard, close to the hospital, where he was transferred to the BC Ambulance Service. The skier is reportedly in serious condition in the hospital.

"These two skiers were prepared with proper avalanche gear," the Facebook post says. "If they did not have the correct gear and training, the skier buried in the avalanche would have died."

"..Lynam, 33, was with a group of experienced ski tourers on Saturday, March 4 when he dropped down a ridge and set off the slide above Hanging Lake...He made a couple of turns and (the snowline) fractured up at the top behind him. (The slide) ran full-path from the peak all the way down to the lake..Lynam was found by search crews, with the help of an avalanche rescue dog, just before 3:30 p.m., buried in 80 centimetres of snow. Lynam's avalanche airbag was damaged in the slide, Sills said, and his beacon was in "search" mode when he was found.

This weekend's tragic fatality near Gin Peak may have revealed a possible weakness with Pieps DSP pro and sport transceivers. The victim's beacon was in search mode.

Some people have noted that the transceiver's lock switch can easily get pressed in by the pressure from the pouch buckle, allowing the beacon to either switch off or go into search mode, with only a little pressure.

Here's a video describing the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= ... mp;feature=youtu.be

A skier was rescued Saturday from a separate slide on Hollyburn Mountain near North Vancouver and remains in serious condition.

"It’s certainly a worn-out message: Not only be careful but understand what the ... public bulletin means. Read it and dissect what the language means. When they say avalanches will occur, that means precisely that," he said. "Those are the days you might want to consider skiing inside a controlled recreation area. They’re not really the best days to be out there touring."

Class 3: Scrambling with increased exposure. Handholds are necessary. A rope should be available for learning climbers, or if you just choose to use one that day, but is usually not required. Falls could easily be fatal.

Class 4: Simple climbing, with exposure. A rope is often used. Natural protection can be easily found. Falls may well be fatal.

..six hikers got into trouble Saturday afternoon while climbing the Mount Harvey summit northeast of the Village of Lions Bay.
She says a 911 call came in just before 4 p.m. to report an avalanche had occurred and that five of the six hikers were possibly missing..

On Saturday, the main concern is storm and wind slab avalanches where the precipitation has fallen as snow. At tree line and below expect small loose snow avalanches in steep terrain on all aspects.

Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where small avalanches may have severe consequences.

...a break in the cornice...indicating that some or all of the party of five were on that snow that broke away and went down the north face of Mount Harvey..

Two helicopters and several ground crews responded after the hikers were caught by a collapsing cornice on Saturday afternoon at around 4 p.m. But the search was called off Saturday night because of the unstable terrain in the area.

The belongings of five hikers missing on Mount Harvey have been spotted at the bottom of the mountain’s north face, said Lion’s Bay Search and rescue manager Martin Colwell.

Four bodies have been recovered from Mount Harvey..One missing hiker still remains unaccounted for.....a large cornice..had apparently fallen from the mountain's peak, sweeping the hikers away..the group may have fallen as much as 500 metres..

"..Search for lost hiker now a recovery mission, North Shore Rescue says..he was unfamiliar with the terrain and ill-equipped to be outside in the elements. Most critically, he didn’t tell anyone what his plans were, so no one knew to call for help until days after he was last seen."