Central Okanagan rescue crews come to aid of hiker, mountain biker

A woman hiking in Peachland and a man mountain biking in West Kelowna needed rescuing on Sunday.

According to Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR), the hiker suffered a lower-leg injury while hiking Pincushion Mountain.

COSAR said following the 1 p.m. call for help, the Peachland Fire Department was the first to arrive, with crews transporting her to an awaiting ambulance.

Two hours later, COSAR received a call regarding an injured cyclist in the Smith Creek mountain bike area.

West Kelowna Fire Rescue (WKFR) arrived first and dispatched a medical crew and a UTV to the area. COSAR send its e-bike team to assist.

“Due to his upper-body injuries, we arranged for Air Rescue One to extract the mountain biker,” said COSAR, adding that its crews and WKFR stayed on scene in case the helicopter was unable to extract the man.

To date, COSAR said it has attended 24 tasks this year, with 12 of those happening in April.

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One of those rescues happened last Wednesday, April 26, when a rock climber was hurt while hiking Pincushion Mountain.

According to COSAR, two men, ages 28 and 29, tried taking a shortcut down the front face of the mountain.

One man fell several metres and struck his head. The other reached the same point, but was unable to climb either up or down from that ledge and called for help.

The man was rescued just before 11 p.m.