North Shore Search and Rescue is still hoping to retrieve some remaining critical life-saving gear left behind on Cypress Mountain after rescuing a stranded snowboarder earlier this week.
Crews returned to the mountain on the weekend to recover gear that was left in two different locations during the rescue. Sebastien Boucher, 33, was plucked from the mountain on Tuesday after spending three days out in the elements. Crews spent 48 hours looking for him, and were forced to leave $30,000-worth of gear behind due to the dangerous nature of the rescue.
One set of gear was retrieved on Saturday, but it was not easy, said Paul Markey with North Shore Search and Rescue.
“It’s all steep ground, there were probably about three or four inches of loose wet snow over a lot of blow down a lot of fallen rocks and we actually we had to do about a 175 feet rappel into the gully,” he said.
The remaining medical and survival gear costs about $20,000, and crews are hoping to access it by helicopter once the weather improves.
Boucher, who suffered minor frostbite injuries on his feet, has been issued a fine by Cypress Mountain. Officials say he had ignored posted warning signs, and had caused an unnecessary headache for search crews because he constantly changed his location.
With files from CTV British Columbia’s Maria Weisgarber
