A Richmond couple that spent a cold night on the North Shore Mountains after getting lost on a hike was extremely unprepared, according to frustrated search crews.
Svetlana and Yevgeny Rudakov headed out on what was supposed to be a five-hour hike on Mount Seymour Tuesday morning, but got lost along the way.
They were found safe on Wednesday, but not before crews put in a long day scouring the mountain.
North Shore Rescue said the couple contacted them by phone early in the morning and was told to stay put, but the Rudakovs kept moving.
“This would have wound up a lot fast if they had stayed where they were,” search manager Peter Haigh said.
A helicopter was dispatched to their location, but they were gone by the time it arrived.
Haigh also said the couple was underdressed.
“They did have a plastic bag that they were able to sit on,” he said. “So they were cold, but not as cold as it might have been for them.”
For their part, the Rudakovs were very grateful for being found.
“We just wanted to say thank you very much to the rescue team,” Svetlana said. “We made a mistake on our way down. We just took a wrong turn.”
North Shore Rescue members have had their hands full this week, searching Cypress Mountain for missing White Rock resident Neville Jewell, and urged anyone going out into the backcountry to be prepared.
The search for Jewell has been suspended pending any new leads.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Hurst
