North Shore Rescue needs new recruits

One of the busiest search and rescue teams in the country is looking for new recruits.

North Shore Rescue (NSR) is looking for roughly a dozen new members to fill spots that need to be filled due to retirement and to help cope with the growing demand of rescues performed in the North Shore mountains.

NSR is a volunteer mountain search and rescue team based in Vancouver and it’s not a large crew. It’s comprised of 40 active members, who do the field work and 20 resource people who provide support.

READ MORE: North Shore Rescue needs new recruits following busiest year

Over the last month, the team was kept busy rescuing lost hikers, retrieving skiers caught in avalanches and locating missing snowshoers.

Due to the situations the NSR team faces with each rescue, finding candidates who are physically fit and have the necessary mountain skills and first aid training can be tricky.

Anyone interested in applying for NSR needs to fill out their online application by April 18. The new online application form must be filled out in addition to sending your resume and cover letter by email.

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NSR accepts applications during the year, holds interviews in the early summer and brings on new members starting in September. New members are asked to commit about 300 volunteer hours a year.

According to their website, other qualifications include:

• High level of North Shore trail knowledge (experience with Cypress, Grouse, and Seymour areas)
• Experience hiking, snow-shoeing, touring
• Experience climbing, mountaineering, ski mountaineering
• Experience camping
• Avalanche Safety Training (AST 1)
• Basic First Aid or CPR
• Owns most of the following outdoor equipment in good repair (eg. Gortex clothing, 60-70 L backpack, hiking boots, mountaineering boots, crampons, ice-axe, harness, transceiver, probe, shovel, helmet etc.)

For more information, head to NSR’s website.