Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue (HSAR) had their hands full on March 13 as they scrambled to handle three calls in two hours.
HSAR received a call from the Emergency Coordination Centre at 1:25 p.m. to rescue an injured skier on the northeast side of Zoa Peak.
“We called a local avalanche technician to ensure the terrain was safe to travel and get the patient out,” said SAR manager Mario Levesque in a press release. “To expedite the rescue, we attempted to fly to location but the (cloud) ceiling was too low and the weather was getting worse.”
Instead, HSAR travelled to exit 221 of the Coquihalla Highway to get to the Falls Lake parking lot, near Zoa Peak. However, just as they arrived there, they received two more calls for road rescue involving trapped drivers on Highway 5 and 3.
“Chilliwack SAR was called to assist in the injured skier rescue and we drove down to the [Jaws of Life] call on Highway 5 at Carolin Mine and assisted with the extrication and carrying of the driver to the awaiting ambulance.”
The Carolin Mine exit is about 20 kilometres away from Falls Lake.
“Once this call was completed we returned to Falls Lake to assist Chilliwack SAR,” said Levesque. “The weather up at the Coquihalla Summit was getting worse with snow and wind.”
Both SARs successfully manage to get the injured skier to safety and left.
“We cleaned up and departed from the scene,” said Levesque. “Thank you to Chilliwack SAR for your assistance.”
Just as this was going on, HSAR also had members at Berkey Creek near Highway 3 to rescue a car that supposedly fell into the water. HSAR arrived and found that it was not, but they had to use ropes to bring the driver to safety.
Levesque said he returned home the next day at 3:30 a.m. Eight HSAR members responded to the incidents.