Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR) helicoptered four hikers to safety on Saturday after one of them fell into a creek and developed hypothermia.
The search group said the four young men were hiking in Okanagan Mountain Park, south of Kelowna, B.C., when the incident occurred.
“The young men had hiked up from Naramata and had nearly made the summit when one fell through a snow bridge and became soaked in the creek underneath,” COSAR said in a media release.
“He became hypothermic as they tried to finish their trek to the cabin at Divide Lake so they called for help.”
COSAR was dispatched around 2:30 p.m. Saturday and helicoptered all four hikers out of the back-country.
Search manager Duane Tresnich said even those who didn’t fall into the creek were soaked after walking through deep snow.
“Despite their accident, they did a lot of things correctly,” said Tresnich.
“They hiked until they got cell coverage and called for help. We were able to stage a helicopter from Bertram Creek Park and send a team to get them. If they had waited until dark, a ground team would have taken much longer.”
The man who had developed hypothermia was fine after getting into dry clothes and did not need to be taken to hospital, Tresnich said.
It was a busy day for the search and rescue group. They also aided Penticton Search and Rescue on another callout in the Summerland area earlier in the day.