Lost skier finds refuge at emergency cache near Cypress Mountain Resort
'He's very lucky he didn't get hit by an avalanche,' says rescuer
A backcountry skier who lost his way near the Cypress Mountain Resort was found unharmed Sunday night after he sought refuge at an emergency equipment cache for lost hikers.
The 42-year-old man spent several frigid hours stranded on the mountain before volunteers from North Shore Rescue found him at the emergency equipment cache,
The skier, who was backcountry skiing alone, ran into trouble around 1.30 p.m. Sunday when he called his wife to say he was lost, but he could still see Hollyburn Mountain.
His wife called back at 3.30 p.m. and he told her he thought he'd be out in half an hour. When she didn't hear back from him, she phoned police, who alerted North Shore Rescue and volunteers began searching at 7 p.m.
North Shore Rescue team leader Mike Danks said the skier was found just after 11.30 p.m. at the bottom of a steep gully.
Danks said there is a high risk of avalanches on the North Shore Mountains right now and given the current conditions, "he was very lucky he didn't get hit by an avalanche higher up in the gully."
"It's a very dangerous area during avalanche conditions because it's a terrain trap in there. If there is a slide, which there happened to be yesterday afternoon, there is a high likelihood that you can get seriously injured in there."
Danks urged back country skiers to travel with a partner and bring safety equipment.
The safety cache was one of several on the North Shore Mountains filled with ropes, sleeping bags and other gear, that were placed at several spots by the North Shore Rescue team.
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With files from Farrah Merali