2 hikers with serious injuries rescued on North Shore
Rescue crews on the North Shore were able to airlift two injured hikers to safety after they were caught in a small avalanche Friday afternoon.
Stan Sovdat, search manager for North Shore Rescue, told CTV News the hikers were near the Cypress Bowl ski area and were able to call for help, but had a weak cellphone signal that made sharing information with rescuers difficult.
"We had to do some investigation to figure out where the people were," Sovdat said. "Both were more severely injured than anticipated."
He said both of the hikers had suffered head injuries. One of them also had a broken ankle, while the other had suffered a spinal injury. Both were taken to hospital.
Crews said the hikers were on the Howe Sound Crescent Trail near Mitten Gully when a piece of ice broke off, triggering the slide, which was made up mostly of chunks of ice.
It's a reminder of just how much snow is still present at higher elevations right now, Sovdat said.
"Today the hikers (were) noting just how deep the top layer is on the high mountain ridges," he said. "It's really wet and sinking up to your knees without snowshoes and even up to your thighs."
Sovdat said the cool, rainy spring in Metro Vancouver has led to fewer calls for North Shore Rescue, something he said has been "nice" for rescuers after a record-setting number of calls in 2021.
"I attribute it largely to the weather," he said. "The weather's been so bad, it's keeping people indoors, and I can see when the sun comes out our volume is going to start going up."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.