A teenager has died in British Columbia after falling down a gully while on a hike. This is the second fatal accident involving a teen in the region in two weeks.
According to North Shore Rescue, two 16-year-olds became lost on Sunday afternoon while hiking Hat Mountain, a challenging 8.9-mile route between Vancouver and Whistler. The report states that one hiker fell and slipped down a steep, snow-filled gully.
The other hiker called 911 and NSR responded to the scene, where they discovered that hiker unhurt but in steep terrain. They were able to hoist the hiker to safety then returned to the scene to begin their search for the hiker who had fallen.
NSR describes the search for the hiker as technical, requiring hundreds of feet of rope. Ground crews located the hiker unresponsive and provided advanced medical care at the scene before airlifting the subject to the hospital after dark, where they were pronounced deceased. The victim's name has not been released.
"This was a tragic rescue with another young person losing their life. Unfortunately, in the last month the North Shore has had a number of fatalities and serious injuries as a result of slips on steep snow," states the report.
On April 22, a 17-year-old hiker was killed after falling down a 200ft (60m) cliff on Bastion Mountain north of Salmon Arm in BC.
Following an April 28 rescue of a hiker who had taken multiple slips and falls on St Mark's Summit, NSR issued the following warning: "This call was a good reminder that - despite the nice springlike weather in town - it is still full winter conditions in the mountains. There is still a lot of snow, which requires solid hiking footwear and traction devices like microspikes to safely navigate."
