The extra-long Easter weekend and a mountainside rescue

Thirty-eight years ago, a trio of hikers had gone out to Mount Seymour on Good Friday, with a plan to return on Easter Sunday. They didn't get home on time.

3 hikers got stranded on B.C.'s Mount Seymour in 1982, prompting a rescue effort

Stranded on Mount Seymour

43 years ago
Duration 1:27
Three hikers ran into some trouble on B.C.'s Mount Seymour over the Easter weekend in 1982.

They stayed calm and things turned out all right — though they had to be patient in order to stay safe.

Thirty-eight years ago, a trio of British Columbia hikers had gone out to Mount Seymour on Good Friday, with a plan to return home on Easter Sunday.

A sudden change in weather meant their return home wasn't going to happen on the expected timetable.

"By Easter Sunday ... a spring storm had swept in from the coast and dumped enough snow to stop them in their tracks somewhere beyond the ski slopes in deep wilderness," the CBC's Jerry Thompson said, when recapping their story on The National on April 15, 1982, the day they were rescued.

"Fortunately, they were experienced and wise enough to stay put, while the search crews combed the back trails."

'Howdy, folks!'

Wayne Anderton was among the three men rescued after the group got stranded on Mount Seymour following a snowstorm that occurred during the Easter weekend in 1982. (The National/CBC Archives)

The situation left them stranded in a tiny tent for four days longer than they expected.

They were rescued amid another blizzard.

"Howdy, folks!" a cheerful Jeff Guthman said, when he and his friends spoke to the media the day after The National's report aired. 

Jeff Guthman said the men's last night on Mount Seymour had been easier than an earlier stretch that had been windy and made things hard for them to sleep. (The National/CBC Archives)

He told reporters "the first couple of nights were rough because the wind was blowing," but Guthman said the trio managed to get some sleep on their last night in the outdoors.

Steve Hill was smiling, as was his mother, when he emerged from the scary situation unscathed.

"Here's the person who's most glad to see me, I think," Hill said, referring to his mother who was standing beside him.

Steve Hill was just as glad as his mother that he made it back safely from his ill-fated hiking trip to Mount Seymour over the Easter weekend in 1982. (The National/CBC Archives)

Thompson put their ordeal into perspective for viewers at home.

"So, the story has a happy ending," he said. "What's ironic is that you could come so close to tragedy on a mountainside that is within sight of a city of 1.5 million people."