Image Credit: FACEBOOK/albernivalleyrescue
June 17, 2023 - 11:00 AM
Two hikers from France needed a helicopter lift after they got stuck on a high ledge in the Beaufort Range on Vancouver Island.
They had been hiking for the past three months and were hours away the end of their adventure, according to a Facebook post from the Alberni Valley Rescue Squad.
The rescue squad responded shortly before 7 p.m. on June 14.
After connecting with the hikers by phone, volunteers figured out where they were and determined that a helicopter and hoist team would be their most feasible option for extracting them. The aircraft was made available through Ascent Helicopters.
“Rescuers were lowered into the area and then had to rappel nearly 75 feet to be able to get to the hikers,” the post reads. “The two travellers from France were then placed in special rescue harnesses and plucked off the ledge using the helicopter’s on-board hoist.”
The hikers were safely in Port Alberni within about 2.5 hours of calling for help.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dan Walton or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2023