North Shore Rescue members have had to put a search for missing snowshoers on hold overnight, but they are hopeful the pair are still alive after making voice contact with someone in the area on Tuesday afternoon.
The snowshoers, 43-year-old Roy Tin Hou Lee and 64-year-old Chun Sek Lam, went on what was supposed to be a day trip at Cypress on Christmas Day, but never returned home. A car belonging to Lee was discovered in a parking lot that evening.
Friends told CTV News they're praying that the men will be found soon.
"I hope they're still safe, they're alive," Ming Chan said as he waited for updates on the search. "Two days in the mountain is no joke you know."
Crews have been searching for the pair since Monday, a difficult operation for crews who didn't know which mountain they were hiking on.
The last ping on the men's cellphones came from the Cypress area, but was not specific to any mountain, and snowfall in the area has eliminated any tracks the men left on their journey.
Rescuers ask anyone who saw the hikers on Christmas Day to come forward, as they may be able to offer clues to the pair's whereabouts.
"We don't know if they're on Hollyburn, Strachan or Black Mountain. That really presents a large challenge," team leader Mike Danks said at the outset of Tuesday's search.
“This isn’t like finding a needle in a haystack, this is like finding a needle in four haystacks,” added Const. Jeff Palmer of the West Vancouver Police Department.
Ground crews scouring the northeastern part of Strachan Mountain heard yelling early Tuesday afternoon, but they have not confirmed whether it was the pair of Vancouver residents they've been out to rescue.
Crews frantically searched the area for several hours, but were unable to locate the missing men by sundown. The search of the area around Cypress Mountain will resume Wednesday morning.
The next step will be attempting to pinpoint the location of the voices and bring over whatever supplies are necessary, officials said.
Searchers have been using a helicopter equipped with an infrared camera that North Shore Rescue hoped would be able to detect their body warmth, but Danks said without an inkling of where they might be, the odds could still be against them.
"We're going to be completely honest here, we need more information. That's why the priority is to get the aircraft up," he said, adding that crews are monitoring the risk of avalanche closely.
Police said Lee and Lam are both experienced hikers, but were not equipped for overnight conditions.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Tom Popyk
