There are over 1,000 Search and Rescue ‘callouts’ in B.C. every year, where individuals in the backcountry have become lost or injured and require assistance from SAR volunteers to find safety. Often, if individuals have a cell phone and can call for help, they have a hard time describing their whereabouts (or aren’t where they […]
Search and Rescue in B.C.: An Interview with Michael Coyle
If you ever read the local newspapers, you’ll notice almost every week there is an article or two regarding a Search and Rescue (SAR) team needing to rescue a lost or injured person in the backcountry. What you may not realize is that these articles only represent a fraction of the callouts that occur every […]
Featured Blog: Oplopanax Horridus
A few months back I discovered a great local outdoor blog called Oplopanax Horridus. Oplopanax Horridus is authored by a Coquitlam SAR member and features many interesting posts on local SAR callouts, including detailed statistical analysis of data, as well as a variety of other outdoor related content. …My avocation is Search and Rescue. In […]
Wilderness Survival Course
Last week I took the Wilderness Survival Course with the Canada West Mountain School. You will spend one evening learning about pre-trip planning, hazard recognition and avoidance, emergency kits, survival psychology and navigation skills. An overnight field session will allow you to truly experience a night out in the local mountains with minimum survival gear. […]
Day Hiking and Overnight Hiking Checklist
One of the things I really enjoy about overnight trips is actually packing for the trip itself. Laying out all your gear, deciding what you need depending on weather/ time of year/ nature of the trip etc, and deciding what to take and what to leave behind.
Getting To Your Destination In The Winter
As I drove to Kelowna for Thanksgiving last weekend, I saw some early signs of snowfall on the Coquihalla Highway. With winter looming, one of the most important aspects of getting out skiing, camping, snowshoeing, etc, during the winter is driving to your destination safely. So here’s a quick post with some useful resources: DriveBC.com […]
