North Shore Rescue suspends search for missing hiker on Cypress

North Shore Rescue (NSR) has suspended its search for 65-year-old missing hiker Debbie Blair.

Blair was last seen on Thursday hiking with a group on Cypress Mountain between the parking lot and Eagle Bluffs. At some point she became separated from her group and was deemed missing on Thursday at noon.

Rescue crews have been unable to locate her. On Sunday morning, North Shore Rescue and West Vancouver Police made the difficult decision to suspend the search.

North Shore Rescue’s Mike Danks said they were searching by air and had approximately 35 people in the field searching on the ground. The mountain saw heavy rain on Saturday and temperatures as low as 2 C on Thursday shortly after Blair went missing.

Rescue crews searched near the Donut Rock Trail Junction where they believe Blair may have taken a wrong turn. She was originally hiking with a group of 12 that had split up into a slower and faster group. She was part of the faster group but decided to hang back and catch up with the second group around the junction.

The second group reached Eagle Bluffs, but never met up with Blair.

Danks said his crew found some tracks on the Donut Rock Trail that indicate someone may have slipped and slid down on their bottom. He said that particular trail is steep and difficult to navigate.

Blair is said to have early Alzheimer’s and is hard of hearing. When she left for the hike on a warm Thursday morning, she left her jacket at home and was not dressed to handle the cool alpine temperatures.

– With files from Jon Azpiri