A search was underway Wednesday on Mount Seymour in North Vancouver for a young snowboarder who may have been lost for last three days.
Officials with Mount Seymour have not indicated why it took until yesterday to report that a car belonging to 21-year-old James Martin was abandoned in the parking lot.
The discovery mobilized searchers but a high avalanche risk means members of the North Shore Search and Rescue team can't check the steeper gullies where an out-of-bounds boarder might be trapped.
Search spokesman George Zilahi says as much as 100 cm of snow had fallen in the area since Sunday when it appears Martin was last in his vehicle.
A friend of Martin's, Derek Person, said he had moved to B.C. from Ontario and they met last summer.
"I befriended him because he is a really nice person, and we ended up working together on many occasions, so I got to spend quite a bit of time with him.
Person said Martin was a frequent visitor to his home.
"He has always been kind and respectful. He just seems like a responsible and trustworthy person, and for this to happen to him is tragic."
Person said he had been staying in touch with Martin's family and is "hoping and praying" the snowboarder survives.
With files from The Canadian Press
