One person is suffering from a broken leg after an avalanche on Hollyburn Mountain near West Vancouver, North Shore Rescue confirms.
The injured backcountry skier was rescued Monday afternoon by ground as cloud cover obscured the path for a helicopter.
“There was a lot of snow, it’s on a fairly steep slope. Fortunately, there’s a safe access in, so our team members were able to stay out of the avalanche area,” said Dave Barnett of North Shore Rescue.
Hollyburn Mountain is one of three at Cypress Mountain.
Footage captured by Global News shows more than a dozen rescuers using snowshoes and cross country skis to get through near-white out conditions on the mountain.
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The injured recreationalist was brought down on a stretcher.
“We used ropes to lower him safely and that takes a lot of resources,” said Barnett, explaining the large number of rescuers involved in the mission.
Barnett said the avalanche was “small,” possibly size 1.
According to the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, there are five sizes of avalanche, ranging from “small” to “extremely large.”
Between Sunday and Monday, Avalanche Canada rated the risk of alpine, treeline and below treeline avalanches as “high” in the South Coast region.
Avalanche Canada is a non-profit dedicated to public avalanche safety and is a partner of the B.C. and Alberta provincial governments.
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