Climber found safe after four days lost in wilderness
A 54-year-old mountain climber from Golden has a can of beer and a pair of gloves to thank for his safe rescue in Yoho National Park following a multi-day search.
John Deon was last seen Friday climbing near the summit of Mount Carnarvon in B.C.
After a team spent days looking for the man, a dog located his gloves about 1,500 metres down from where he was last spotted, along with a Coors beer can, which helped crews narrow their search area.
They eventually found him in the Amiskwi River Valley on Tuesday morning under some trees, waving for help.
“He was in relatively good shape. He wasn’t injured. He was tired and concerned, very disoriented and confused,” said Grant Statham, Parks Canada visitor safety specialist.
“We were so happy to have found him, but he was probably happier than we were. We’re glad he is OK.”
Statham said Deon and a friend from Calgary, both experienced outdoorsmen, were climbing together when the two became separated and his friend noticed Deon was descending the wrong side of the mountain.
They yelled back and forth at each other, but his friend couldn’t reach him and waited for him on the trail. By the time the sky darkened, and with no sign of Deon, his friend was forced to descend to his car at Emerald Lake, where he continued to wait until late Friday, Statham said.
By Saturday afternoon, Deon still hadn’t shown up. When he missed work Sunday, his friend reported him missing and Parks Canada initiated a search around 10 a.m. that same morning.
Initially, the team focused its efforts on the west side of the mountain in a remote alpine area, in case the man had fallen on some cliffs, but their search turned up empty.
The following day, Parks Canada ramped up the search, bringing in more people and a dog team, and expanded its area to the Kiwetinok River Valley.
There, the dog found Deon’s gloves at the valley’s bottom along with a fresh beer can, confirming he was in the area, Statham said.
On Tuesday, Deon’s fifth day in the wilderness, Golden searchand-rescue members were called. With the added help of the team, along with two helicopters and two dog teams, the man was found in the Amiskwi River Valley, into which Kiwetinok Creek feeds.
A helicopter sling was used to rescue him from the valley and to a waiting ambulance.
Statham said the lost climber had some food that he’d been rationing for days.
He had also used a lighter to make a fire for the first three nights but ran out of fluid Monday night.
“He didn’t travel that far of a distance, but it’s very rough country in a very remote area,” Statham said, adding the area is populated with bears.
Statham said this is a good reminder, especially ahead of a long weekend, for outdoor enthusiasts to be “prepared for the unexpected” if they venture into the wilderness, including packing an extra jacket, lighter, knife and granola bars.
He said it’s also a good idea to bring along a satellite locator beacon, which the climber did not have.
“I think everybody who goes into the wilderness should have something like that,” said Statham. “(If he had one), we could have been there at first light the following morning.”