The benefits of being well prepared were on full display Sunday as the Central Okanagan search and rescue team embarked on its second call of the year.
With a snowmobile team and two toboggans, they went to help a snowshoer who injured his ankle on the SnowView trail in the Kelowna Nordic Trail system and was unable to walk.
COSAR officials said he was with two other snowshoers, and their two dogs, and they were able to keep warm with a small fire, while rescuers made the long journey for the rescue.
“It was textbook,” SAR manager Brian Stainsby said in a press release. “The subject was well prepared, they lit a fire and were able to tell us their exact location.”
Rescuers rode seven kilometers on the Nordic trails before they ditched their snowmobiles and pulled the sled another kilometre to the injured subject, COSAR said in a press release.
“A rope system was needed on the way back due to the steep terrain,” COSAR added.
READ MORE: Central Okanagan Search and Rescue says 2020 was its busiest year on record
Once back at the trailhead, the man’s companions took him to Kelowna General Hospital for treatment.