To The Rescue! All-volunteer North Shore Rescue saves lives in British Columbia’s busiest mountains By Steven Threndyle Photos by Jay Piggot North Shore Rescue members use their probes during an avalanche rescue drill on Cypress Mountain.

50 • B C m B C m • 5 1 The errors, in many cases, seem ri- The oldest member of North Shore The 911 call came on the evening of diculously innocuous, if not stupid, and Rescue is 84-year-old Karl Winter, who November 3, 2015. Two hikers were they compound very, very quickly. Sto- participated in his first rescue at the age ries abound, like that of British tourist of 17 on his very first mountain climb stranded and hunkered down in a gully Tim Billings, who, in November of 2014, in the Austrian Alps. “My partner and I on Crown Pass, a short distance from didn’t tell anyone that he was heading were staying in a tent outside a hut, when out for a hike and remains missing to word came down that there were climb- Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. this very day. On another occasion, res- ers stranded high on the mountain.” The Immediately, a call-out was issued for They weren’t wearing traction spikes, let cuers were clued in to a snowshoer’s hut master requested that Winter and his searchers from the North Shore Rescue, alone crampons. whereabouts by following droplets of partner help out with the rescue, and he’s most of whom were likely looking for- The North Shore Mountains ensnare blood into a steep gully that he’d rag- been helping out ever since, especially af- ward to a relaxing night of TV or help- both the neophyte and the experienced dolled down the day before. In another ter moving to Canada in the early 1950s. In ing their kids with homework. It was too trekker. The three main trailheads—Cy- incident, former team leader Tim Jones 1965, Winter attended the very first meet- dark for the team to order a helicopter press Mountain, Grouse Mountain and discovered a missing British tourist who ing of a new mountain first aid committee from Vancouver airport, and so the rescue Mount Seymour—are busy ski resorts that had been snowboarding near Cypress that would later become team set out on foot in the dark to locate have direct car access from downtown. (In Mountain and had followed a creekbed known as North Shore the two out-of-town hikers. fact, Grouse even has regularly scheduled down the mountain. He was found face Rescue. Not only is the volun- They were extremely lucky—cellphone shuttle service from the downtown hotels down with two broken legs, dead. Then “During the Cold War, teer work demanding, NSR members go coverage cuts out a short distance from to its parking lot, and public transit drops there was the dawn rescue of a trio of some of the scenarios we through an intensive where they were huddled in a creek, locals and visitors alike at Grouse’s door- experienced trail runners, who spent a were preparing for con- two-year training and their rescuers were able to quickly step at 45 minute intervals.) mercifully balmy night “spooning” to centrated more on civil program. locate them via “pings” on their GPS- Many, it seems, are simply blind to the conserve their body heat under a tree. defense than recreational enabled phone. dangers that surround them, in some Unlike the topography of, say, Alber- rescues,” he says. Rescues The following day, North Shore Rescue cases just a few metres off a well-defined ta’s Rocky Mountains, the vast major- often put the searchers at as much risk as spokesperson Doug Pope didn’t mince trail. After all, Canada’s third-largest city ity of Coast Range terrain is covered by the victims themselves. “We didn’t have words: “If we hadn’t reached them, they sits less than a half-hour drive below the dense forest that looks impenetrable, very good radio contact. Sometimes, our would have died out there. They were trails. Between hubris and oblivion lies even from the bubble of a helicopter. search teams would fan out and one team shivering and hypothermic, and not at all perhaps the most dangerous mountain And if there is a clearing on a moun- would find the victim, take him home, and prepared for the winter conditions.” range close to a major city anywhere in tainside, usually it’s a sheer rock bluff then go to bed. The other teams would the world. with no possible route down. Even on complete their assignments and return On a scale of one to 10, the mistakes the sunniest July days, the trees cast home much later, unaware that the rescue made by those two hikers likely war- deep shadows, which further obscure was over.” ranted a nine. They were inexperienced vision. As NSR team leader Mike Winter says that the creation of Moun- hikers—walkers, really—who had found The 10 Essentials Danks says, “most of our rescues take tain Equipment Co-op in the 1970s was an the trail by consulting Google Earth and Carrying these 10 essential systems on any back- place in Class Five terrain where some early turning point in recreational hiking, thought it would only take seven hours to country adventure is a good habit to get into, and kind of rope rescue is needed to re- climbing and snowshoeing—although or- complete. They chose Hanes Valley Trail, could save your life. Here is the updated list from move the victim.” ganizations like the Alpine Club of Cana- the most challenging day-hike in the The Mountaineers’ seminal book Mountaineering: Objective hazards and dangers lurk da, the B.C. Mountaineering Club, Varsity North Shore Mountains. The Freedom of the Hills. everywhere. “The first instinct for a lot Outdoor Club and North Shore Hikers They were ill-prepared to spend the of lost hikers is to go down,” says Danks. had been quite active, going all the way night—with the recent switch from day- 1. Navigation (map and compass) “On the North Shore Mountains, going back to the early 1900s. Even the name light savings time to standard time, the 2. Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen) down in the hopes that you’ll run into a of one of the North Shore’s most heavily hikers got a late start—and weren’t car- 3. Insulation (extra clothing) road or trail is a really, really bad idea.” used trails—the Baden Powell Trail—com- rying any extra clothing or even a head- 4. Illumination (headlamp/flashlight) Disoriented snowboarders have post- memorates the founder of the worldwide 5. First-aid supplies lamp. Even in the full light of long days holed in chest-deep snow for days on Boy Scouts organization who helped build 6. Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candles) in June and July, the Hanes Valley Trail end, like Sebastian Boucher did in 2012. the 48-kilometre trail in 1971. 7. Repair kit and tools sees rescues for people who run out of (His rescue is estimated to have cost Of course, a lot of technology has 8. Nutrition (extra food) daylight and are befuddled by tricky over $10,000 in helicopter time alone.) changed since that time, or, as NSR mem- 9. Hydration (extra water) navigational challenges where the trail Hiking has been long-established in ber Scott Campbell puts it, “helicopters 10. Emergency shelter disappears and becomes a “route,” re- the rugged outdoor mountain culture and cellphones have changed the game quiring not only physical stamina but of Vancouver, pretty much since the first when it comes to mountain rescue.” mental acuity to keep heading in the British settlers arrived here in the late Nowhere, perhaps, do helicopters proper direction. 19th century. Though their elevation is and cellphones go together like on the They weren’t prepared for winter rather modest at around 1,500 metres, Grouse Grind. weather—indeed, for the previous three a fascination has always existed around The Grind is a steep, stiff and not terribly days a drenching rainstorm lashed the iconic peaks like The Lions, Mount Sey- scenic trail that has become synonymous Vancouver region and blasted the moun- mour, Cathedral Mountain, and, farther as a fitness test more than a mountaineer- taintops with their first layers of snow east, Golden Ears and Mount Cheam/ ing achievement. The climb is known for and ice. Footing on the trail is notori- Lucky Four Group. Early ascents be- being a tough, almost outdoor gym-like ously dangerous even in dry weather, as came front-page news in the Vancouver workout; indeed, the term “Mother Na- critical portions of the route are nothing Sun newspaper; one intrepid explorer ture’s Stairmaster” has often been used more than an unstable field of large boul- signaled his successful ascent by light- to describe its difficulty. Even superbly fit ders and scree slopes that require almost ing a fire on top of the Lions that was individuals can succumb to the exertion, goat-like footing to successfully traverse. visible from downtown Vancouver. in June of 2015, a 55-year-old man died

52 • B C m B C m • 5 3 from a cardiac arrest; the third such per- only a block or two from a swift-flowing when responsible hikers made sure to son to do so in the past decade. On sunny creek or dangerous ravine,” says Danks. carry the 10 essentials in order to sur- summer days, the Grouse Grind lineup vive a night or two in the bush. Danks is almost like a vertical group fitness “Team” is the operative word for the agrees, though, that the culture around class; according to Danks, thousands of North Shore Rescue. “The two-year train- hiking has changed, and the easy access people chug up the trail each day. Many ing period is intense,” Danks says. “First- to trails like the Grouse Grind draws far of these novice hikers tackle the trail car- aid, rope rescue, avalanche courses, more inexperienced city slickers than, Valberg © Michelle rying little more than the shirt on their backcountry navigation and, of course, say, the Alpine Club of Canada members back, a cellphone (for the obligatory self- working around helicopters are all skills who would set out to a more ambitious ie) in one hand and maybe a water bottle that need to be mastered.” summit such as the West Lion or Cathe- in the other. Not surprisingly, some of the rescue dral Mountain. Inside the Tim Jones Rescue Centre team is drawn from fire fighters, para- From the team’s perspective, perhaps that the team recently procured from the medics and ski patrollers, which makes the most exhausting aspect is the effort City of North Vancouver, Danks turns on sense until you realize that very few of it takes to merely keep going. “When Tim a computer monitor and shows a video these people might get much in the way Jones (the former NSR Team Leader who of a recent rescue from the side of the of time off. Two rescues in a day aren’t suffered a massive heart attack and died Grouse Grind on a perfect autumn day. uncommon. An unseasonably dry spell near Mount Seymour in 2014), was alive, The GoPro footage shows tiny, ant-sized this summer meant that the team was he constantly stressed the need for a con- people on the side of an impossibly steep kept hopping virtually every week; one sistent source of funding,” Danks says. drainage, looking after a gentleman who day, NSR members were called out for That’s a lot of pressure to place on corpo- had fallen 40 metres off the trail. “We’re three separate rescues. rate donors and individuals, not the least not quite sure what happened; the fel- There was a time before cellphones of who are NSR members themselves, low seemed to have wandered off the who spend significant time doing com- trail, under the rope, and then passed munity outreach and fundraising. Take, out. When we got to him, he was pretty for example, the rescue vehicles serving banged up.” as mobile command posts. One of them, NSR is even taking an active role in a specially-equipped Ford F-350 that is locating lost souls wandering the city valued at over $150,000, was just in the streets. “We’ve been called out to look shop and needed $5,000 in repairs. for alzheimer’s patients, and even people And people aren’t always necessarily with autism who may not be aware of grateful. “One time, we rescued a well- their surroundings. In North and West known physician who has several private Vancouver, even the suburban streets are clinics around Vancouver,” Danks says. “We were really hoping that we might get a nice donation from him for saving his life, but he pretty much just thanked Remembering Tim Jones us and that was it.” With 20 years and more than 1,500 rescues as a member of North North Shore Rescue, and indeed com- Shore Rescue, not only was Tim Jones the most active member but he was also one of its most munity rescue groups across Canada, colourful and beloved volunteers. Jones died from cardiac arrest in January 2014, but his legacy will might have a new friend in Prime Min- live on in NSR’s history. By Ryan Stuart ister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau’s brother Michel was a keen backcountry skier Tim Jones by the Numbers who perished in an avalanche in B.C.’s 1962: The year Jones around the North considered one of the 40: Hours per week West Kootenays and the elder brother moved to North Van- Shore, Jones also built best networks in the Jones worked for the spent several years fundraising for the couver with his parents 10 smaller ones deep in world, which ensures NSR, all volunteer. Canadian Avalanche Association (now Adventure Canada and two siblings. the backcountry, where searchers have VHF That’s on top of his Avalanche Canada) to increase public rescue teams could find radio reception even career as a full-time 20: number of years awareness about winter backcountry THE EXPEDITION CRUISE SPECIALISTS water, food, stretch- in the most rugged paramedic. Jones was a member of safety. During the recent federal elec- ers and supplies while corners of the North North Shore Rescue $50 million: Total an- tion, Trudeau actually filmed one of his working on searches. Shore. Jones helped nual cost if BC search most effective television commercials on 1,500: Approximate build it. Adventure Canada is a family-run travel company with $2 million: The amount and rescue volunteers the Grouse Grind, where he logged a re- total number of rescues of money raised, in 250: The max length, in were paid salaries spectable time of just under 55 minutes. more than twenty-five years experience, specializing in he took part in. an effort spearheaded feet, of the long-line he- similar to the RCMP. But Danks and his crew aren’t waiting small ship cruises to the Canadian Arctic, East Coast, 100: Average number by Jones, to build a licopter rescue system Instead, the province for that. On the afternoon that I chatted of rescues per year new rescue base in pioneered by Jones to allocates $9 million with Danks and his brother Gordon in Greenland, Galapagos, Haida Gwaii, and select NSR responds to. North Vancouver’s make it easier to pluck annually to Emergency the expansive new storage facility they’d Jones took part in public works yard. They people out of steep, Management BC. Jones finally managed to secure, I mentioned Canadian wilderness destinations. Our pioneering almost every one. moved in 2013. forested and difficult lobbied to raise that that I’d met Scott Campbell doing com- approach to expedition cruises emphasizes scientific terrain. Before Jones amount. ­ 10: In addition to the 6: Number of radio re- munity outreach at Capilano University started tinkering, it was discovery, art, culture, learning, and fun. four large decentral- peaters spread around the week previous. Danks smiled and 150 feet. ized equipment caches the Lower Mainland, said, “Oh, Scott’s over at Save-On Foods today. We’re raising funds by selling hot dogs in the parking lot.” Call us at 905-271-4000 or 1-800-363-7566 adventurecanada.com

54 • B C m ADVENTURE CANADA 14 Front St. S. • Mississauga, ON • L5H 2C4 Ont Reg # 4001400. Adventure Canada is a Member of TICO and ACTA.

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