Search continues for missing hiker
Rescue crews continued to search Cypress Mountain Saturday for a 65-year-old woman who went missing last week.
Debbie Blair was hiking on the mountain Thursday with friends when she became separated from her group.
West Vancouver police said she was last seen near Donut Rock Trail junction on the Cypress Mountain trail leading toward Eagle Bluffs. A staging area has been set up at the top of Cypress Bowl by members of the North Shore Search and Rescue Team and volunteers.
Rescue crews were using thermal imaging from a helicopter to search for the woman.
Searchers are concerned because temperatures fell close to freezing Friday night.
They say Blair was not prepared to spend the night outdoors and had left her coat and food in the car. They say she is likely wearing a short-sleeved shirt.
“We are very concerned for her well-being, and about her being exposed to the elements,” NSSR leader Mike Danks said Saturday morning by phone from the staging area. “It’s very cold up here.”
Danks said there was also heavy rain early Saturday. About 35 search and rescue members have set up a grid search near Dick Creek, where searchers found human tracks Friday.
Danks said Blair had no backpack, light, map or cellphone with her when she went off the track.
He said Blair had been travelling with a faster group of hikers, but had hurt her knee so she went to find a slower group to continue the journey. He believes while looking for the other group, Blair hit a junction and went off trail.
Police describe Blair as a Caucasian woman weighing about 130 pounds and about 5-foot-4.
She has brown/grey hair and was possibly wearing a hat and white pants.
Anyone with information is asked to contact West Vancouver Police at 604-925-7300.