A hiker had to be airlifted to safety by members of North Shore Rescue after running into trouble Sunday afternoon.
He had gone hiking with three friends off of Mount Strachan on Cypress Mountain. But two of them got separated from the others near St. Marks off the Howe Sound Crest Trail.
One of the hikers, who would only tell Global News his first name was Nima, said he stayed on the marked trail, while his friend went in another direction, getting further and further away from him.
“He couldn’t keep coming on the same route as I was going, and he kept sliding down,” Nima said. “And for some reason, he had the thought if he slid down, he was going to the end of the trail. I said, ‘Let’s not do that,’ but he kept going this way.”
Nima said he kept in touch with his friend by phone, eventually telling him to stay put, while he called for help.
“They got my location,” added Nima, “But they figured I’m on the right track. I think they put the focus on him, which he really needed the help. I could make it out.”
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Scott Merriman, a North Shore Rescue search manager, said the other hiker was too far down a gully, and they had to rescue him using a long-line extraction. By the time Nima made it out, his friend had been rescued. They were not hurt.
“A map and compass would have gone a long way to prevent this,” Merriman said.
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