EDMONTON — A 19-year-old Sylvan Lake teen had to be rescued overnight after the snowmobile he was driving fell into a creek near Golden, B.C.
Golden RCMP say the teen intentionally separated from the group he was snowmobiling with Saturday. When he failed to meet up with the group at a nearby cabin later in the afternoon as planned, police were contacted.
Four Golden and District Search and Rescue members were sent out on snowmobiles around 7 p.m. to search for the man, who was eventually found stranded in steep terrain west of Golden. GADSAR members skiied down to the stranded teen; he was given snowshoes and followed the search and rescue crew back up to their snowmobiles. The man was brought to safety around 1 a.m. Sunday.
Police and search and rescue crews are warning anyone participating in back country activities to always have a plan and be prepared to spend the night outdoors if they become stranded.
“GADSAR has had an extremely busy couple of weeks.” says Cst. Spencer Lainchbury with the Golden RCMP.
Avalanche warnings are in place this weekend for many mountain parks in Alberta and B.C. On Saturday, a 34-year-old Canmore man was killed in an avalanche in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country.
For more information on the current avalanche forecast, visit Avalanche Canada’s website.