After a break in the weather Squamish Search and Rescue volunteers were able to longline an injured hiker out of Garibaldi Park.
The rescue took nearly eight hours on Sept. 21, SAR got the call from RCMP around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 21, BJ Chute, president of Squamish Search and Rescue, told The Chief. The patient had a non-weight-bearing knee injury after he was struck by a falling rock.
"We have just sent our hasty team, the helicopter, up to have a look and see if we are able to land nearby and stabilize the subject and extract," Chute said that morning. "If not, we'll have to regroup and formulate another plan."
That other plan was to hike in the following day with food and supplies for several days, but a break in the weather finally allowed the helicopter to reach the male and longline him out. After BC Ambulance checked his injuries, he was left in the care of friends.
The evening before, on Sept. 20, BC Ambulance asked Squamish SAR to assist with rescuing a 31-year-old man who crashed while mountain biking near Ring Creek. It was around 5 p.m. The closest named trail was 19th Hole. SAR longlined the patient from the area to the waiting ambulance, who was then taken to the hospital.
"The weather was co-operative and SAR was able to use the longline to expedite that rescue, otherwise it would have been a pretty long stretcher carry back to the ambulance," Chute said.
Chute said he had a fractured pelvis, and a possible leg fracture.
– Keili Bartlett, Squamish Chief
