↓ Skip to Main Content
Oplopanax Horridus
Oplopanax Horridus A veteran SAR volunteer's experiences in British Columbia

Main Navigation

  • About
    • About Me
    • Copyright
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Why Oplopanax
  • Popular
    • On Blaming the Victim
    • How to Kill Yourself Snowshoeing
    • Smart Phones and Battery Life
    • Don’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation
    • PLBs from the Rescuer’s Perspective
    • Finding Someone from a Helicopter
    • On Coordinates
    • A Social Media Storm
  • Projects
    • TrueNorth Geospatial
    • Missing Poster Generator
    • YourLo.ca/tion
    • SAR Teams Map
    • Range Rings
  • SAR Links
    • BC SAR Teams
    • SAR Agencies
  • Media
  • Contact
Oplopanax Horridus
Oplopanax Horridus A veteran SAR volunteer's experiences in British Columbia

Off Canvas Menu

  • About
    • About Me
    • Copyright
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Why Oplopanax
  • Popular
    • On Blaming the Victim
    • How to Kill Yourself Snowshoeing
    • Smart Phones and Battery Life
    • Don’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation
    • PLBs from the Rescuer’s Perspective
    • Finding Someone from a Helicopter
    • On Coordinates
    • A Social Media Storm
  • Projects
    • TrueNorth Geospatial
    • Missing Poster Generator
    • YourLo.ca/tion
    • SAR Teams Map
    • Range Rings
  • SAR Links
    • BC SAR Teams
    • SAR Agencies
  • Media
  • Contact

Month: February 2010

SAR Day 2

By Michael Coyle Posted on 27/02/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, SAR Day Tagged with SAR, SARDay

Field training at the secret Coquitlam SAR Crag on Burke Mountain. Technical travel skills; ascending, descending, convert from ascend to descend, and traversing wet slippery steep terrain. Good thing the weather is cooperating by providing the moisture. The magic number …

SAR Day 2 Read more »

SAR Day 1: operational, administrative and training

By Michael Coyle Posted on 23/02/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, SAR Day Tagged with SAR, SARDay, training
SAR Day 1: operational, administrative and training
SAR Member using a map

Today had operational, administrative and training components of SAR. Josh Andrew Koenig, an actor who starred in the TV Series Growing Pains, is missing in Vancouver. He is not only a high profile missing person, he is the son of a …

SAR Day 1: operational, administrative and training Read more »

SAR Day 0

By Michael Coyle Posted on 22/02/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, SAR Day Tagged with SAR, SARDay

My Facebook friend Lee uses the application Snowbook to track the number of days he goes skiing in a year. This has the effect of making me extremely jealous because he racks up an astounding number of days (60 this season …

SAR Day 0 Read more »

How not to get hurt at Whistler

By Michael Coyle Posted on 15/02/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with news, review

In my few days at Whistler on standby for rescues on the Olympic course I’ve had a few opportunities to see the Whistler patrol members in action. A regular weekend on Whistler sees a number of critical injuries (where critical means life …

How not to get hurt at Whistler Read more »

On Olympic Aspirations

By Michael Coyle Posted on 12/02/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with essay, helicopter, HETS, news, olympics, rescue
On Olympic Aspirations
Rescuing an Olympic Skier in 2010

Recounting my part in rescuing an Olympic Athlete during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics

The Olympic Imperative

By Michael Coyle Posted on 08/02/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with HETS, olympics, rescue, training
The Olympic Imperative
From left, Brian "Fish" Fishbook, Buck Corrigan, Me, Peter Marshall, Nick Zupan

Two days of training at the men’s and women’s downhill skiing course, and one day to go before racers start practising. First, some terms of reference: there are just about 2400 blue-clad volunteers for the men’s and women’s downhill, and …

The Olympic Imperative Read more »

What I am not allowed to do

By Michael Coyle Posted on 04/02/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with olympics, opinion, training

I have been given a list of do’s and don’ts about being a volunteer at the Olympics: do not ask for athlete/VIP autographs or pictures while on duty or in uniform do not bring family members to work do not …

What I am not allowed to do Read more »

My Olympic Sport (Part 2)

By Michael Coyle Posted on 03/02/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with helicopter, HETS, olympics, rescue, training

(continued from Part 1) So, through hook or by crook, I’ve been trained to dangle from a helicopter as a rescue technique. How, may you ask, did that get me to the Olympics? A few years ago, Vancouver won the …

My Olympic Sport (Part 2) Read more »

Footer Menu

  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Why Oplopanax

Footer Menu

  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Why Oplopanax
Creative Commons Licence
Oplopanax Horridus Copyright © 2025 by Michael Coyle
All content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License
Creative Commons Licence
Oplopanax Horridus Copyright © 2025 by Michael Coyle
All content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License