Man lacking compass, food and shelter lost on North Shore mountains
Credit to Author: The Canadian Press| Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2019 18:58:33 +0000
A hiker has spent a sub-zero night on Vancouver’s North Shore mountains and a rescue team search manager says the man is in serious danger.
Martin Colwell with Lions Bay Search and Rescue says the hiker, who’s in his 20s, split off from his companion Wednesday when they reached a peak north of West Vancouver’s Cypress Provincial Park.
He intended to continue south along a challenging hike that would end in Cypress Bowl parking lot where his companion would pick him, but he never arrived and was reported missing Wednesday evening.
Colwell says the man has limited food, no pack, compass, shelter or additional warm clothes and his cellphone battery is believed to be dead.
All the main trails between the man’s starting point in Lions Bay and his planned destination had been searched before dawn.
Two helicopters and additional searchers were called in and Colwell says the key is finding the man quickly “while he is still responsive.”
“(He’s) probably off somewhere, probably just in the woods off the trail, or perhaps he’s got stuck in one of the drainages,” Colwell says, adding hypothermia is a concern.