Climbers Rescued By Helicopter After Spending the Night Stranded and Injured

Peering through night vision goggles, John Blown of North Shore Rescue (NSR) could make out a pair of headlamps on Yak Peak, a granite dome three hours drive east of Squamish.

Blown’s team had mobilized at 10:40 p.m. on August 5 to assist with a complex climbing rescue on the peak’s Yak Chek (5.9/10a; 450m). Earlier that day, at roughly 6 p.m., two Australian climbers were nearing the top of the route when the leader fell down a runout slab pitch and injured his head. When his partner lowered him back to the belay station, he noticed his friend was dazed and his helmet was dented.

According to Barry Ganon, the Search Manager with Hope Search and Rescue, the climbers only called for help nearly four hours later. Clouds darkened the sky and the setting sun was dipping below the horizon, the mountain soon to be shrouded in darkness. Ganon requested assistance from NSR, who, along with their rescue partner Talon Helicopters, are the only volunteer SAR team in southwestern B.C. with the equipment and certification to perform helicopter rescues at night.

Poor weather and cloud cover forced NSR to approach Yak Peak from the east and north—instead of directly from the west. Waves of cloud and rain rolled steadily through the pass, further obscuring any sight of the climbers in the night. “Flying at night, the margin for error is extremely low,” Blown explained. “Night vision is like staring through two paper towel tubes, you can’t see clouds coming and it’s hard to see the rain.” Although Blown’s team eventually caught brief glimpses of the climbers, they eventually backed off due to the challenging conditions.

The successful rescue

Nathan Friesen, a member of nearby Chilliwack’s Search and Rescue team, received a message to prepare for a ground rescue effort instead. Friesen and his colleagues packed up their gear in the middle of the night and drove an hour east to the base of Yak Peak. In the dark, they shouldered packs and started hiking up the mountain’s scramble route, making visual and verbal contact with the climbers in the early morning hours.

“[Yak Chek] is a pretty common spot for us to get called in for rescues,” Friesen explained. “With its short approach and moderate grade, a lot of people underestimate this route.”

Dave Ellison, an Association of Canadian Mountain Guides-certified rock climbing guide agreed. “Yak has far more loose rock and is more runout than your typical objective in Squamish or the Fraser Valley,” he said. “The rock is much crumblier and less predictable compared to the bomber granite we have at most of our popular climbing destinations locally. The route finding is also far more complex and it’s easier to get off route.”

Lucky for these climbers, the weather forecast improved overnight and NSR put another helicopter in the air that morning. Friesen and the Chilliwack team were prepared for a ground rescue, but, with wet rock and the nature of the injuries, Blown explained that a helicopter rescue was the best option. The NSR helicopter deposited two rescuers to the belay station where they packaged the injured climber and flew him to a waiting ambulance below. The second climber was flown off shortly after. Both were transported by paramedics to a local hospital where they were later released with minor injuries.

Gannon explained that the weather and late-day timing made the rescue was both complex and challenging. He wasn’t sure why there was such a long delay between the accident and the call for help, but explained that, even after the call, the rescue was further delayed by communication challenges with the subjects—despite the fact that there is cell reception on the mountain. The climbers had called for help via a Personal Locator Beacon, but when rescuers attempted to call the Australian phone number associated with the device, they couldn’t make contact. It was only after rescuers spoke with one of the climbers’ mother in Australia that contact was made through WhatsApp and rescuers were able to talk to the climbers on the wall.

Blown pointed out a few things that the climbers did right—carrying rain jackets, headlamps, and having a device to call for help—but he also noted one key way to be better prepared for a committing route like Yak Chek. “They didn’t really have an exit strategy in case something went wrong,” he said. “They couldn’t rappel. … The pitches are 60 meters long and they only brought a single 60-meter rope.” While it may have been possible for the climbers to rappel off anchors built from their own gear, they decided not to attempt it due to the worsening weather and the head injury. Carrying a second rope to aid in a retreat would have vastly simplified a descent.

Everyone Climbing spoke to for this story reiterated that climbers should respect the alpine nature of this area. “Alpine objectives are often more runout, have more loose rock, are dirtier, and more sandbagged than local climbs,” Ellison said. “If you over prepare for alpine objectives or target routes well below your normal grade, you are going to have a much better time.”

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