Rescue personnel gather at a staging area in Lions Bay, B.C., Sunday, April 9, 2017. Four bodies have been recovered from the site of a snow slide in the mountains north of Vancouver. Martin Colwell, a search manager with Lions Bay Search and Rescue, said Sunday the four were among a group of five hikers who vanished Saturday afternoon.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Linda Givetash
April 09, 2017 - 2:45 PM
LIONS BAY, B.C. - Four bodies have been recovered from the site of a snow slide in the mountains north of Vancouver.
Martin Colwell, a search manager with Lions Bay Search and Rescue, said Sunday the four were among a group of five hikers who vanished Saturday afternoon.
Colwell said the search continues for the fifth person.
He said it appeared the group was walking on a cornice when it fell from under them and swept them down the mountain side.
The group was hiking with a sixth person on Mount Harvey Saturday when he fell behind.
Police say when the man made it to the summit he couldn't find his companions and alerted police.
Colwell said there are some very steep cliffs near the summit, and getting too close to those with the current winter conditions can be dangerous. He said they may not have known they were walking into danger.
"The thing with these snow overhangs, it's hard to see where the edge is and they probably didn't recognize it from being on top of it."
RCMP said six snowshoers were climbing towards the summit on the mountain northeast of the Village of Lions Bay. One of the snowshoers fell behind from the others and when he reached the summit he saw no sign of the group.
Police said Lions Bay Search and Rescue was immediately brought in on Saturday and Squamish and North Shore Rescue provided help in putting 19 volunteers and two chartered helicopters in the area.
No information about the identities of those killed will be released until all the family members have been notified.
Avalanche Canada has set the danger rating on the South Coast mountains at moderate at the treeline, but considerable in the alpine.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017