Snowboarder opts to repay $10K for B.C. mountain rescue

A snowboarder who spent two cold nights lost at B.C.'s Cypress Mountain Resort says he is ready to pay back the costs of the search and rescue operation that saved his life.

Last December, snowboarder Sebastien Boucher, 33, snowboarded out of bounds and quickly ended up lost and disoriented on the steep snow-covered slopes.

Three helicopters and dozens of volunteers finally found him and airlifted him to safety  — an effort that cost thousands of dollars and required hundreds of hours from volunteer searchers.

• Read more about the rescue of Boucher
• Read more about his $10,000 fine
• Popularity of backcountry skiing worries some in industry

At the time, Cypress Mountain said it would charge Boucher $10,000 for the cost of the rescue and the money would be donated to the all-volunteer North Shore Rescue team.

But officials at the ski hill had a change of heart when Boucher offered to work with them on an educational video about his experience. Cypress says the value of that would far exceed what it was going to charge.

But Boucher then raised the $10,000 anyway by holding a hockey tournament back in his hometown of Ottawa.

Now he plans to present that cash to the North Shore Rescue team next week as a 'thank you' to those who saved his life.

"He is just really thankful for his rescue," said North Shore Rescue spokesman Tim Jones.