Ian Coughlin was the snowmobiler rescued by crews from Central Okanagan Search and Rescue after being injured after slamming into a tree, cracking his helmet.
Coughlin reached out to Glacier Media to share his side of the incident that took place in the Greystokes area Tuesday night (Jan. 7).
“The morning of the incident, I was waiting to hear from my last option for a riding partner that I connected with over Facebook. He wasn’t able to make the call whether he’d be able to go or not until about eight o’clock in the morning,” says Coughlin.
After waiting some time, Coughlin decided to get ready to head out.
“Around 8:30, I was loaded up and ready to go up the hill and meet him. He ended up having to pull the plug and wasn’t able to come and join me,” explains Coughlin.
Coughlin, a 12-year veteran in snowmobiling, decided to still head up to Greystokes in hopes of meeting other people who were hitting the trails that day.
“I was able to meet up with a group of four other guys within minutes of getting to the riding zone ... and they invited me (to join) the group,” explains Coughlin.
Coughlin says they were all snowmobiling together for most of the day and even went for lunch at the Kelowna Snowmobile Club’s Hilton Hut together.
“Everyone sort of separated at certain moments ... where you’re playing around in the trees, then you kind of regroup with people.”
That’s when he hit a tree.
“My buddy who was trailing behind me, he would’ve gone left and I went right. We didn’t see each other for a few minutes and ... that’s when I crashed,” says Coughlin.
He wanted to clarify that he set off his own beacon.
“I had all the preparation that you can imagine, extra clothes, extra food, extra water, extra stuff to spend the night, all the emergency stuff, two different types of radios. I have my own beacon, I was not relying on these other people,” said Coughlin.
“I was prepared to be a guide on the mountain that day.”
Coughlin says it took the group 15 minutes to find him after he found his bearings.
“When I crashed, it took me 10 to 15 minutes to get my senses back and everything before I could even get back to my radio, to radio the guys. Then they came and helped me down to the cabin, so they definitely did the rescue thing, but I sent out my own S.O.S on my accord, with my own device.”
Coughlin is still in the hospital with possible damage to his spine.
