Crews have temporarily suspended the search for two men believed to be missing on Cypress Mountain.
Forty-three-year-old Roy Tin Hou Lee and 64-year-old Chun Sek Lam have not been heard from since Christmas Day, but there may be some hope. Crews from North Shore Rescue (NSR) have made voice contact with someone in the area.
“We’ve had tips come in from hikers who were in the area on Christmas Day saying that they had seen two Asian males snowshoeing on the Howe Sound Crest Trail near Yew Lake and also near Strachan Meadows,” said North Shore Rescue team leader Mike Danks.
“So for us that’s a big bonus.”
On Wednesday NSR team members took off from the base of the mountain and were helicoptered in to begin their search. There were about a dozen team members on the ground Wednesday. Crews were also searching from the air.
Danks said today was a pivotal day in the search. “The reality is we want to find these guys really badly,” he said.
“They’ve got to be tough and they’ve got to hang on but we’re going to do our best. This is day three. We’ve had calls in the past where single people have been out for three days in weather similar to this.”
Later in the day, West Vancouver Police Const. Jeff Palmer said the difficult decision was made to “temporarily suspend active search operations tonight pending an improvement in the weather.”
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Crews were first called out on Monday morning after one of the hikers’ vehicles was left overnight in the parking lot.
West Vancouver Police say they have been in contact with the family of the missing men.
North Shore Rescue still wants to stress the importance of staying inbounds, especially considering the high avalanche conditions. They shared these photos on Wednesday of another snowshoer risking their life in avalanche country.
“There are very specific risks out there and if you’re going to go into the backcountry, or any backctountry area, absolutely positively you should ensure that you have the appropriate training and you have the appropriate gear,” Palmer said.
Efforts to locate or contact either male have so far been unsuccessful. Anyone with information that could assist in locating Roy Tin Hou Lee or Chun Sek Lam is asked to contact West Vancouver Police at 604-925-7300.
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