A long line rescue had to be used to pull out two hikers that have been stranded west of Mount Seymour this afternoon.
A helicopter was dispatched earlier today to look for the hikers in the Lynn Headwaters Regional Park area.
Tim Jones with North Shore Rescue says the two hikers from Vancouver were unprepared for the weather conditions when they got stuck on a cliff face.
“We did not realize the snow conditions and got totally lost on the trails,” one hiker told Global News after the rescue.
The hikers say they felt prepared for the day and told some friends that they went hiking, but did not leave many details.
Jones says had the rescuers not reached the couple this afternoon, the ending could have been very different.
“They were not equipped to stay out in weather like this,” says Jones. “They would have been severely hypothermic. There was a good chance we would not have been able to get a voice contact with them tonight. We could have been able to spot them in the morning, but it could have been too late because where they were, they were way off route.”
Search manager Peter Haigh says they urge hikers to always let someone know where they are going and for how long.
“We also recommend that you take a map or a GPS,” says Haigh.
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