Squamish Search and Rescue came to the aid of a man who fell on the Stawamus Chief while hiking on March 29.
It was one of two rescues that occurred that day."[It] wasn't clear if somebody had fallen or if an accident had occurred. That obviously was quickly upgraded to a fall," said rescue manager B.J. Chute.
"[It was] a male who fell from First Peak, landing on a ledge — who was hiking at the time."Chute said the man, who fell on Monday, plunged down from the east side of First Peak. It was unclear what caused him to fall.
Distress calls reached Squamish RCMP, Fire Rescue and SAR, as information regarding the incident was fuzzy at the start, making a multi-agency response warranted.The Stawamus Chief was shut down for much of the afternoon that day.
A helicopter flew up and surveyed the area."We were able to spot them and land a team nearby. We were unable to land at the top of First Peak just because of the number of people up there," Chute said.
As a result, rescuers were dropped off at the top of Raven's Castle, right by the bell, and set about locating the injured man.Once they found him, they prepared him and the helicopter longlined him off the Chief.
Rescuers then gave him over to paramedics.The other rescue that happened that day was in the early morning hours.
At around 2 a.m., rescuers were alerted to two overdue skiers who were travelling on the Neve Traverse in Garibaldi Park.They were expected to be back by dinner time on Sunday, so once lighting conditions were favourable, crews set out on a helicopter to find them.
"We sent a team up by air — three members, one of whom was an avalanche technician, up to do two things. One: do a recon of the avalanche conditions, and, obviously, look for these people," Chute said.Rescuers managed to spot them from up above.
They then landed and skied toward the pair. The crew helped them with packing their gear and flew them out.There have been 19 calls for SAR this year. This time last year, that number was at 14. In 2019, it was 12.
Chute also noted the recent health order that has shut down Whistler Blackcomb is a cause for concern.He said the team is discussing a plan of action, as there may be an increased number of callouts, as more recreationalists come to Squamish instead of heading to Whistler.
Chute said it's possible there may be more interest in backcountry skiing, which could lead to a greater need for rescues.
