The other day I was watching some of the great YouTube videos on the Environment Canada channel when I came across this one, on a “microscale weather phenomenon” near Whistler (this one was produced for the 2010 Olympics). I had…
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SAR Long Line capability “grounded”
NOTE: Updates to this post will be appended to the end. Update 1: 12:24 Monday October 29th Update 2: 20:30 Monday October 29th Update 3: 10:55 Tuesday October 30th Update 4: Saturday November 3rd Update 5: 14:00 Friday November 16th…
Helicopter long line rescue course
I spent the weekend (4 days) training in Squamish with the rest of my SAR team on helicopter long line rescue. Readers of the blog probably know that I’ve been doing this type of rescue for a while now (since…
Personal Locator Beacons from the Rescuer’s Perspective
A case study of a recent rescue in Southwest BC My SAR Team just completed a rescue of three stranded hikers in the DeBeck Creek area north of Coquitlam, on the west side of Pitt Lake. If this sounds familiar…
Tagged with: backcountry, beacon, case study, helicopters, HETS, management, map, personal locator beacon, PLB, rescue, safety, Tyler Wright, weather
Posted in Blog Entry, Essay
Posted in Blog Entry, Essay
HETS Mountain Rescue in Yoho National Park
News tonight of a rescue in Yoho National Park. Parks Canada pioneered the rescue technique SAR people in BC know variously as HETS (Human External Transport System), or “Class ‘D’” operations (referring to the Aviation regulations that govern people being…
Helicopter Rescue Drill and Recertification
I’ve written about the rescue technique known as HETS several times. Basically it’s a technique that’s perfect for inserting and extracting rescuers and equipment from BC’s forested slopes. Where a helicopter pilot can’t hover or land, they can long line.…
Tagged with: avalanche, helicopter, HETS, long line, SAR, scenario, snow, training
Posted in Blog Entry
Posted in Blog Entry
Backcountry Ski rig for SAR
On the south coast, most below-treeline winter SAR is done using snowshoes. However, snowshoes are not always the most appropriate way to travel in the winter. Among the many reasons to not use snowshoes, the one that stands out the…
GoPro Hero, first impressions
I got a GoPro Hero camera for Christmas. I figure since I do some exciting things on occasion I may as well record some of them. I have a few friends who’ve bought this camera, and almost everyone has seen…
SAR Day 40: Rescue on Diez Vistas
I was unable to make this rescue. From what I gather, the team was called to rescue an injured subject on the Diez Vistas trail, around Vista 6. Members hover-exited at Vista 3 and hike to the site. The subject…
SAR Day 39: Rescue on Eagle Ridge
What follows is a first person account of a recent rescue on Eagle Ridge. At approximately 16:30 I get paged: “All members call task line for injured hiker at Buntzen Lake“. I dial in and hear the SAR manager describing…
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