North Shore snow pack challenges hikers
A busy weekend for North Shore Rescue is a reminder that while it’s sunny days in the city, the mountains are a different story.
“Not the most optimal for new hikers,” NSR team leader Mike Danks said Monday.
Monday, NSR was called out for two separate rescues: one involved a pair of women hikers on the south side of St. Mark’s Summit, a popular route along the Howe Sound Crest Trail. The other, which NSR was still gathering information on at 1 p.m. on Monday, involved reports of a “fall off a cliff ” in roughly the same area.
“It sounds like they’re in over their head,” he said of the women hikers. Conditions in the local alpine are challenging and hikes at lower elevations are a much better idea for the time being.
The current good weather is “misleading,” he said.
“You’re into the snow line pretty quickly. There are spots where it’s pretty hollow. You could fall 10 feet.”
Mount Strachan, the eastern peak in the Cypress Mountain ski area, is a popular spot for hikers during the summer, but it’s fraught with hazardous snow conditions right now.
“The cornice on Mount Strachan is still there,” he said, noting it will give way any time now. “And there was a significant avalanche down Christmas Gully,” referring to the busy hiking area on the western slope of Strachan.
Hiking in easier spots, like Lynn Canyon, is a better idea for now.
As for predicting when the alpine would be safer, Danks said he couldn’t put a time frame on it.
NSR also performed rescues on Sunday and Saturday. Sunday’s rescue involved a male in his 60s who “torqued his knee” while hiking in the Brother’s Creek area, Danks said.
On Saturday, NSR airlifted a snowboarder off Seymour Mountain after he suffered a suspected spinal issue.
After learning of the Monday rescue near St. Mark’s Summit, Kim Brand posted to the NSR Facebook page about the conditions and how unprepared many hikers appeared to be.
“Today and Saturday as I am taking off my ski boots at my car at Cypress Bowl parking lot I get people in running shoes asking me for directions to the St. Marks trailhead. I keep saying there is way too much snow on it to hike safely,” she wrote. “What is wrong with people? Know before you go! We could save a ton of money and time if BC Parks would fund putting a ranger in the parking lot on weekends to dissuade and educate folks.… ”