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Vancouver hiker’s experience has lessons for all

Whistler Search and Rescue cautions never to hike in the backcountry alone

The Vancouver hiker, who was lost in the foggy backcountry south of Whistler for five days, didn’t make any major mistakes, according to Whistler Search and Rescue Secretary Ted Pryce-Jones.

But there are lessons for everyone in Samuel Black’s story, which ultimately had a happy ending when he was safely rescued from the Brandywine Provincial Park area on Thursday, Aug. 26.

Namely, Pryce-Jones said Black’s experience highlights the dangers of travelling into the backcountry alone, as well as the importance of carrying some form of communication, such as a cell phone or flares, as a way to draw attention to yourself.

The third lesson is to always be prepared for the unexpected.

"If you’re going up for a night, plan for three," said Pryce-Jones.

"You never know. This is the Coast Mountains. Weather can be in on you in 15 minutes, (changing conditions) from a clear day to completely clouded over."

Black’s story began on Friday, Aug. 20 when he set out on what was supposed to be an overnight hike.

An experienced hiker, he had scouted out his route two weeks beforehand and was confident in his path.

Once on the trail however, he caught sight of a ridge and veered off course. But he wasn’t banking on the clouds and fog, which quickly rolled in behind him.

"I thought it would be no problem to cover it (the ridge) and then it socked in," recalled the 39-year-old Black, who is an assistant philosophy professor at Simon Fraser University.

"And once you’ve left the trails and the cairns behind, it’s pretty tough to navigate. It was just a stupid thing. I should have never left the cairns behind when the weather was even threatening."

Though Black berated himself publicly after his rescue, Pryce-Jones isn’t nearly so hard on the hiker.

Scrambling off the beaten track to see new things is all part of backcountry hiking, he said.

"That’s what part of the wilderness experience is about," he added.

"You don’t go up there to walk a straight trail. You can do that in Stanley Park.

"I wouldn’t point a finger of blame on him in any sense of the word. This is not like some irresponsible skiers that go out of bounds at all.

"It was the weather. He was trapped by clouds in that glacier for days."

Search and Rescue volunteers extensively searched the area just above where Black was camped. They even sounded loud air horns right on the ridge above Black.

"And he never heard anything," said Pryce-Jones.

"It was just so dense with the fog and everything."

For five days Black waited in the fog, living off rations of half a bagel each day.

"I just never imagined what it’s like up there in the mountains when you’re just covered in clouds," he said.

"It’s unimaginable. You cannot see at all."

Black could hear the search planes flying overhead, and knew people were looking for him.

That gave him hope for his rescue and at the same time he despaired at causing his family and friends so much pain and worry.

"I think the worst thing was just knowing that there was people worrying about me," he said.

"I could hear the planes overhead. I didn’t feel like I was going to be abandoned.… It was just not being able to communicate that I was alright – that was hard."

Constable Michelle Nisbet with the Whistler RCMP said Black did many things which helped the search effort.

Primarily Black stayed in once place once he knew he was lost.

"Given the amount of time it took us to find him, if he had been travelling on foot for five days, that search could have been a lot more difficult than he made it," said Nisbet.

In addition, Black had told friends where he was going and left instructions of what to do if he didn’t return home on time.

That arrangement made the search and rescue efforts infinitely easier.

In the end however their rescue efforts were also hampered by the same bad weather, which had cornered Black at the bottom of the glacier.

A break in the clouds on Thursday morning, Aug. 26, almost a week after Black set out on his journey, allowed them to catch site of the hiker within 45 minutes.

Pryce-Jones recommends always travelling with a partner while in the backcountry.

"When you’re alone the burden falls right on your shoulders and it can be pretty overwhelming," he said.

And after his own experience, Black also has a few suggestions before heading into the backcountry.

One little tidbit of information is to waterproof all maps. His maps disintegrated in the rains.

But more importantly, he recommends staying on track if bad weather looms above.

"Stick to the trails that are marked where you can locate a route if the weather shifts suddenly because it’s amazing how suddenly it shifts," he said.

The relieved Black also profusely thanked his rescuers for tirelessly looking for him day after day.

"They’re just extraordinary individuals, extraordinarily generous people, just saintly almost."