By Joanne Layh
Editor, Peachland View
It took just under 50 emergency personnel and the combined efforts of West Kelowna Fire and Rescue’s technical rescue team, Peachland Fire and Rescue Service, Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR), Oliver/Osoyoos Search and Rescue (OOSAR) and Penticton Search and Rescue (PenSAR) to get two hikers off of Pincushion Mountain last night.
Between the various agencies the highly technical rescue effort took nearly five hours.
The ordeal began after two men, aged 28 and 29, hiked Pincushion Mountain and on the return trip decided to take a short cut down the front face of the mountain, said COSAR volunteer Edward Henczel in a statement issued this morning.
The two started to climb down when one of them fell several metres and struck his head. The other male climbed down and then found himself in a position on the mountain where he was unable to climb either up or down from the ledge and called for help.
Emergency crews were called out shortly after 6 p.m. and arrived soon afterwards to evacuate the injured male and transfer him by ambulance to hospital. The injured male suffered minor cuts and bruises and was able to walk out on his own around 7 p.m.
However, the second hiker was more difficult to reach, and it took combined teams the next several hours to extract him from the ledge in what Peachland fire chief Dennis Craig described as an incredibly technical rescue.
“West Kelowna did a fantastic job and were incredibly trained, but it was a very technical rescue,” Craig told the View. “It took multiple ropes or redirections to get crews from the top all the way down to him.”
The West Kelowna technical high angle rescue team was able to reach the male with the support of the other agencies and he was finally lowered from his position just before 11 p.m.
The hiker was checked out by BCEHS personnel before heading home.
Emergency personnel on scene earlier in the evening.
(Photos by Edward Henczel)
Craig said the rescue required a lot of resources and manpower to get all of the gear and equipment to the top of the mountain and it became that much more difficult after dark.
“There were crews that hiked that mountain twice in the same night. Basically, they took gear up, turned around, came back down, grabbed more gear and went up again.”
Most of the personnel hadn’t eaten dinner yet and to add to that the West Kelowna crews had just come off a day of training.
Craig noted all of the agencies working together just shows how well they’ve trained and how well they can work together when it’s needed.
“It was a really good work relationship that we have with all of the agencies and it came out and showed.”
COSAR search manager Duane Tresnich stated that is was the combined effort and incredible teamwork that made this difficult rescue possible with a very positive outcome.
“The male was in a position that was not easy to get to and with darkness setting in it made the job extremely difficult,” said Tresnich. “One aspect in our favour was the fact there was a full moon and a clear sky, which helped.”
Attempting a shortcut down the front face of Pincushion is definitely not recommended, said Craig.
“As always, we recommend people stay on the trail, not only from a safety perspective but from an environmental perspective, as well,” said Craig. “It’s always good to stay on marked and designated trails and not go off-trail. So definitely not recommended. The face that they came down is the face that you look at when you look at Pincushion from the highway.”
