VANCOUVER -- A snowboarder who ventured out of bounds on Grouse Mountain was the subject of a long line rescue on Monday afternoon.

The man became lost while he was alone and out of bounds in dangerous terrain, according to North Shore Rescue, and he was found 850 metres into Drifter Creek.

He was able to call for help from his cellphone around 12:30 p.m., but instead of calling 911, he phoned Grouse Mountain Ski Patrol instead.

"For future if you are lost or stuck you should always phone 911 - do not phone anyone else as this uses up valuable battery life," North Shore Rescue said in a statement. "911 has the ability to ping cell phones and potentially get your location immediately."

The snowboarder only had 7 per cent battery life left on his phone, but NSR was able to use its system to confirm his location. The man was found close to a waterfall and a snow bridge, which the rescue group said would not have been able to support his weight and could have been fatal.

"The snow is extremely soft right now and likely the snow bridge would not have supported his weight had he continued, which could have been fatal," said NSR's statement.

Grouse Mountain Resort confirmed they were contacted by a guest who'd been snowboarding on the mountain when he went out of bounds and got lost.

"Thankfully the guest was uninjured and members of North Shore Rescue were successfully able to extract the guest from their location," Julia Grant, spokesperson with Grouse Mountain, said in an email. "As the safety of our guests is our top priority, we will be conducting a full review of the incident."

The man was eventually long lined to Capilano Gate, but rescuers said they were not able to recover his snowboard.