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Seven people rescued by SAR in six days

In response, Whistler-Blackcomb make ski boundary more obvious with new signs

Whistler Search and Rescue has one message for skiers and snowboarders looking to explore the backcountry: be prepared.

That warning is in response to seven people who went missing in a six-day period over the Christmas holiday season. All seven were found safe and uninjured after spending a night on the mountains.

“I think people are getting lured outside by their appetite for snow — and perhaps it has not been publicized enough yet about what the usual payment is for that if you are not prepared,” said Brad Sills manager of Whistler Search and Rescue.

“People need to know that if they are going to ski out of bounds, they need to know that they have to be prepared for that,” he said.

One of the people who went missing was a 21-year-old Japanese skier on Christmas Eve. Sills said when SAR found the man near Piccolo on Whistler Mountain, he was “just hours from not making it.”

The man was suffering from mild hypothermia and was taken to the Whistler medical clinic for treatment after being found around noon on Christmas day.

“For us, it is a real sort of eye opener and reminder that you can only get lucky so many times before somebody picks up the dinner tab,” said Sills.

He added: “We really don’t like to cut it that fine when there is somebody in that dire need. That is why we are so adamant about making sure you understand what you are doing.”

The skier later told RCMP and SAR workers that it was his first day on the mountain, and he could not find his way back after he lost the group he was with.

The next day, Dec. 26, two more people went missing while snowboarding on Blackcomb Mountain. They sent a text message to a friend in the United States, who contacted the Whistler RCMP.

The SAR team was contacted and waited until the first light the next morning to begin the search. The two 27-year-old men where found at about 9 a.m. Dec. 27 via helicopter. They were in the Decker Meadows area outside the Blackcomb boundary.

“They were fine and didn’t need to go to a hospital,” said Sgt. Steve LeClair.

“They were cold when we found them, but they built a snow cave and lined it with branches, which they slept in that night,” he said.

The men had followed another group of snowboarders out of bounds but had lost sight of them in the fog and were unable to find their way out on their own.

Earlier, four skiers went missing on Dec. 20 in the Cake Hole area on Whistler Mountain’s south side. They were found the next day uninjured — after also sending a text message to a friend for help.

In response to the large number of people who have gotten lost exploring the backcountry, Whistler-Blackcomb is putting up more signs to clearly identify the ski area boundary.

“The gist of it is, I want people to recognize that they do not come to find themselves outside of the ski area by chance. They make a choice to leave,” said Whistler assistant patrol manger Chris Clark.

“The signs say, you have made a choice to leave the ski area, and as a result of having made that choice, I am going to give you some information. And the information is that people do become lost or become disoriented or do get injured out here, so before you proceed any further, think about it,” he said.

Clark added that having a dozen people go missing this season is a little alarming.

“You wouldn’t want to maintain this pace throughout the entire season, that is for sure,” he said.

Sills said that the large number of people who have gone missing in the backcountry recently is not out of the ordinary.

“Let’s just say it is on the upper end of the usual. It is just that we didn’t have any calls in November, so I guess we are just getting all of November and Decembers in one big swack,” he said.

LeClair agreed that the numbers are on par with last year, saying that the RCMP is always concerned when people go missing.

However, he added that the RCMP and SAR should not have to protect people from themselves, highlighting the fact that rescue missions put SAR volunteers at risk.

SAR is a non-profit organization run completely by volunteers. Their headquarters currently are located in a trailer in the public works yard, though they are looking forward to a new building, which will be finished around February.

Some of the amenities the new headquarters will have include a garage for a truck donated to the group by American Friends of Whistler; an equipment bay for members to hang things up to dry; personal lockers; a training room; and a command office to run SAR searches out of.

The municipality has provided $400,000 for the project, and the SAR will provide any money beyond that.

“It is going to be great. And it will just allow us to run things a whole lot more efficiently,” said Sills about the new 2,400 square foot structure.

“Right now it is hard out after a search to get things hung up to dry, and you lose track of it.... It makes it quite difficult,” he said.

Anyone who would like to make donations to SAR should contact Ted Pryce-Jones at tedpryce-jones@telus.net .