Following the rescue of a person on Fisher Peak Trail, Kimberley Search and Rescue (SAR) have published a Public Safety Announcement reminding the public of the importance of filing a proper trip plan and having the necessary equipment for your excursion into the backcountry.
Cranbrook SAR was tasked on Monday night and they then contacted Kimberley SAR for assistance very early Tuesday morning.
Kimberley SAR president Peter Reid told the Bulletin a woman from out of country was travelling the area and decided to do some exploring. Fisher Peak is the tallest point in this part of the Steeples mountain range and is therefore a very popular draw for hikers and climbers.
This individual had left her vehicle at the parking lot at the bottom of the trail and some other hikers had seen her at around 2:30 p.m. that day, and felt that she didn't look particularly well prepared for the conditions in this particular backcountry excursion.
This was reported to the police, who went up to do a wellness check and found her vehicle. Reid said no note had been left on the vehicle indicating the individual's trip plan or timeline. The officers left their card on the vehicle asking the person to contact the RCMP once she was back.
They then triggered a response with Cranbrook SAR at around 10 p.m. when they hadn't heard back from the person and her vehicle was still in the parking lot.
"Cranbrook SAR went in that night and then, just based on capacity issues, they requested our assistance at about 2 a.m. So we started helping out, put a helicopter out first thing in the morning," Reid said.
"There was a Cranbrook team that stayed in the tarns and did a superb job of talking to everybody coming up and down and there was a hiker going up and they asked him to just take a look along the way while they were waiting to get picked up by a helicopter and us to start some more searching."
On this hiker's way back down the trail he encountered the person. Reid said the individual was not lost, but also wasn't equipped for the situation.
"What she had done was hang out in a cave over night, so she did the right thing," Reid said. "She didn’t move, she protected herself, she was fine. But in an abundance of safety we decided to fly her off the hill anyways.
"It’s just a really good lesson and the reason we did the PSA was to say, ‘hey, if you’re going to be out there, please tell people you’re going,’ and in this case, if she’d just put a note on her car saying I know what I’m doing, I’m familiar with the area, or I’ll be back by this time, then we would have at least had a better idea of what was going on."
In this case, Reid added, it was a "good news story." She was located and located quickly by a member of the public, who did the right thing and helped walk her down to safety. She was then picked up by SAR and flown to the airport where she was determined to be fine medically speaking. After a brief chat with the RCMP she was sent on her way.
Another important piece that stems from this story is that during peak wildfire season, BC Wildfire needs all the helicopters that are available.
"We had to request a helicopter from wildfire, which took it off the fires, because we were out looking for this person and then ultimately rescuing her," Reid said. "People just need to recognize that resources are limited with respect to aircraft and we want to be cognizant of that. We will always go and look for people and we will use whatever resources we can, but sometimes those resources are going to be few and far between."
While Reid added he doesn't want to discourage people from going into the backcountry, this type of story, even though it had a positive outcome, stresses the important and potentially life-saving need to be aware of conditions and what equipment is needed for whatever adventure you are planning to take on. This includes having the supplies to support yourself in the event of an incident and you have to wait for rescue.
It's also important to make a trip plan, which you can do through adventuresmart.ca
