K-Country hikers reminded to be prepared in case of emergency
CBC News | Posted: August 26, 2017 5:31 PM | Last Updated: August 26, 2017
Safety officials assisted 19 people in 4 separate rescue calls this week
Kananaskis Country safety staff say they saw a spike in rescue calls for people stranded on mountains after dark this week.
That included assisting 19 people in four separate incidents.
Nobody was injured on those calls.
Still, a K-Country rescue specialist, Matt Mueller, says hikers need to be mindful that the sun is setting earlier as fall approaches.
"If you look at the past years, usually as the days start to shorten, we forget to bring headlamps and flashlights and things like that and we're somewhat surprised by the darkness," he said.
Veteran hiking guide Carlos Buhler says he's happy to see more people taking up hiking as visitor numbers in the mountains appear to be picking up this summer.
He has some advice for those new to alpine trails.
"When I try to pack or have my children pack for a day out, I try to think what could happen if we're out a little longer in a little bit more inclement weather than we expected."
Rescue staff say they've also noticed that some of the people rescued are relatively new to hiking on mountain trails.
They're reminding backcountry visitors to plan out trips carefully and consider starting earlier in the day.
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