Drones, dogs, helicopters and ground crews search for missing mountaineers in B.C.

Jun 6, 2024 | 1:10 PM

SQUAMISH, B.C. — The search and rescue team in Squamish, B.C., says helicopters, groundcrews, drones and avalanche dogs are involved in the search for three mountaineers missing for nearly a week.

A social media post by the team says the search resumed at 5:30 a.m. Thursday in the area on Mount Garibaldi where the trio was last seen on May 31.

It says the previous day’s effort involved three helicopters, including one equipped with a rescue-signal detector, but low cloud hampered the operation.

In a separate post on Facebook, the search and rescue team from nearby North Vancouver says it worked with the Squamish crew and Talon Helicopters to search the southern edge of Mount Garibaldi.

North Shore Rescue says they used a rescue detector hung under a helicopter in case one of the missing mountaineers had equipment sending out a signal.

The team shared photos showing the helicopter’s view of a steep mountainside with bare rock jutting out from beneath snow cover during the flyover.

The climbers were reported missing from Atwell Peak, part of Mount Garibaldi, a popular backcountry area about 70 kilometres north of Vancouver.

Poor weather and high avalanche risk had been hampering the search in the area that rescuers describe as remote, with “complex terrain.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press