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Oplopanax Horridus

Oplopanax Horridus

A veteran SAR volunteer's experiences in British Columbia

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Author: Michael Coyle

SAR Numbers from other Provinces

By Michael Coyle Posted on 08/12/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, Essay Tagged with InfoSAR, numbers, SAR
SAR Numbers from other Provinces
Flying over Whistler Village in 2008

Comparing SAR incident volumes in BC to those in other provinces. BC has more than the rest of Canada combined

Weather observations redux

By Michael Coyle Posted on 07/12/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with backcountry, ski, weather

In my post yesterday I noted that it’s important to get a synopsis of weather conditions. My rationale; most weather forecasts provided by Environment Canada and other forecasters are geared toward the sea-level public, and contain wind and rain amounts, …

Weather observations redux Read more »

Weather observations and the coming storm

By Michael Coyle Posted on 06/12/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with backcountry, ski, weather

With reference to the post I wrote on coastal weather patterns, this weeks storm is an illustration of a winter front. However, the public forecasts and the rainfall warning are clearly geared toward the sea-level public. So where does a …

Weather observations and the coming storm Read more »

Some numbers on a large search

By Michael Coyle Posted on 03/12/2010 Posted in Blog Entry, SAR Day Tagged with numbers, SAR, SARDay, Tyler Wright

Most searches are short; someone goes missing and we head out and find them, someone calls on a cell phone and we guide them in, or we do a medical response. We divide searches into operational periods, a fancy term …

Some numbers on a large search Read more »

How not to carry a stretcher

By Michael Coyle Posted on 01/12/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with funny, video

Believe it or not, SAR members actually train for stretcher carrying. I honestly think that most of the reason we do this training is that we’re usually called out in the middle of the night, so you need to have …

How not to carry a stretcher Read more »

How to NOT kill Yourself Snowshoeing

By Michael Coyle Posted on 29/11/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with accident, InfoSAR, numbers, safety, SAR, ski, snow, snowshoe, weather
How to NOT kill Yourself Snowshoeing
Descending Mount Matier

Some advice on what to do when everything goes to hell.

The (textual) shape of SAR in BC

By Michael Coyle Posted on 27/11/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with InfoSAR, numbers, SAR
The (textual) shape of SAR in BC

A word cloud generated from the BC Search and Rescue Incident Summaries shows us how we describe search and rescue in BC

Snow patterns on the South Coast

By Michael Coyle Posted on 26/11/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with avalanche, backcountry, SAR, ski, weather
Snow patterns on the South Coast

The south coast of BC (an area encompassing the Fraser Valley, Sea to Sky and Sunshine Coast) is known for rain in the winter months, and with altitude, snow. A rule of thumb states that every 1000 feet of elevation …

Snow patterns on the South Coast Read more »

On Avalanche accidents in BC

By Michael Coyle Posted on 24/11/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with avalanche, InfoSAR, safety, SAR, snow
On Avalanche accidents in BC

The survivability for avalanche accidents is low in BC.

The Shape of SAR in BC

By Michael Coyle Posted on 15/11/2010 Posted in Blog Entry Tagged with InfoSAR, numbers, SAR
The Shape of SAR in BC
SAR Member using a map

How does search and rescue work in British Colubmai

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