North Shore Rescue crews spent Friday night searching for a lost hiker.
The call came in around 7:30 p.m. from North Vancouver RCMP, according to Don Jardine, search manager for North Shore Rescue. The missing woman's boyfriend called police when she didn't come home, and her car was found in the parking lot.
Rescue crews told CTV News she was in an area without cell service, so she could not receive any incoming calls.
“She was quite well prepared,” Jardine said. “She had overnight gear and she had a GPS, food and a whistle. Pretty much everything you need.”
But Jardine said her GPS wasn’t working and she didn’t have a backup map.
“Unfortunately, she got quite a bit off the regular route we expected her to be on and we couldn’t find her until morning,” he said.
She was finally spotted from the air Saturday morning. A rescue helicopter and crews were able to get her safely off the mountain.
This rescue comes as the weather is beginning to turn. Snow has been reported falling on Whistler Mountain.
“We’re starting to get more fall weather, which means it’s darker a lot earlier,” said Jardine. “If we do get somebody lost, we’re not able to get a [helicopter] up into the high country where she was to search.”
This hiker was on her own and had never done this hike before.
“Fifty per cent of people who get into trouble are solo hikers,” said Jardine. “So if you are going on a new route you’ve never gone, maybe bring a friend, someone who’s done the trail and who’s familiar with it.”
