Injured hiker calls for help on Grouse Mountain, then disappears
North Shore Rescue spent hours searching for hiker who apparently made it down without alerting authorities
Volunteers with North Shore Rescue spent Sunday night scouring the trails on Grouse Mountain for an injured hiker who called for help but apparently left the mountain without telling authorities.
Shortly before 10 p.m., the team received a call from Grouse Mountain officials that two people had called for help.
The male caller said that one of them was injured, but the call dropped off before they could finish explaining the situation.
"[The callers] basically said they needed help but we didn't know where they were. There are many trails on the front side of Grouse Mountain," said Mike Danks, North Shore Rescue team leader.
North Shore Rescue dispatched a team and searched the trails, including the Grouse Grind, but couldn't find a trace of the two people.
The search was called off after they'd finished searching the trails, and then police caught a break.
"We had the RCMP pinging their phone and it looked like the party was on the move back to the UBC area," said Danks.
Danks said it appears as if the two hikers made it off the mountain, but didn't alert any of the authorities involved.
He calls it a frustrating night for everyone.
"A tremendous amount of resources went into the call last night: Metro Vancouver, NSR, the RCMP and Grouse Mountain staff," said Danks.
"I just really hope that people recognize that a lot of effort goes into it, and at the very least, please follow up so we can shut things down."
The search was called off around 1:45 a.m. on Monday morning.
Busy weekend for volunteer team
Sunday night's call was the sixth incident that North Shore Rescue responded to this past weekend.
"The medical incidents, we expect these to happen and that's what we're here for. But some of the lost hiking calls that we had were preventable," said Danks, who explained that many were related to inexperienced hikers in the backcountry.
Danks advises novice hikers to pair up with more experienced hikers, to carry a GPS or a navigation aid, and to avoid going down a different trail if you get lost.
"The last thing we want you to do is to continue downhill off trail because on the North Shore mountains that leads to more steep and treacherous terrain," said Danks.
"That's usually when we get called in: when those people can't go any farther."