A 19-year-old snowboarder who lives in the village on Mount Washington was found in good condition Thursday morning after being reported missing around 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Comox Valley Search and Rescue Search Manager Paul Berry says the teen was last seen getting on a chair lift at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon and hadn’t been seen or heard from since.
“We initially began a search in the village,” said Berry. “The RCMP and SAR members tried to ascertain whether he had returned to the village and it was determined that he had not.”
Searchers have just located a missing snowboarder on @MountWashington. The 19-year-old has been missing since 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon. Details to follow @CHEK_News pic.twitter.com/fEI7mHZWxs
— Dean Stoltz (@deanstoltzchek) December 31, 2020
It was believed the snowboarder had been headed to the backside of Mount Washington but avalanche conditions were too hazardous for searchers to begin looking before an assessment was done to determine if it was safe for SAR members to go into the area.
At 9:15 this morning an RCMP helicopter – based at 19 Wing Comox – began an aerial search of the area with two Comox Valley SAR members on board.
The subject was spotted within minutes of the search beginning.
“Actually Martin the pilot spotted him first,” said SAR team member Cliff Umpleby. “We found his tracks quite quickly and managed to follow his tracks up the valley. It looked like he had been caught in a small avalanche in the evening and got rolled around in that but managed to wander around for a while before deciding to hunker down for the night.”
The man did not have a cell phone or any avalanche safety gear with him.
The boarder is in good condition with possible frost bite on his hands is the only injury. @CHEK_News https://t.co/Hf052dgw2J
— Dean Stoltz (@deanstoltzchek) December 31, 2020
He suffered frostbite to his hands but those are believed to be his only injuries.
The helicopter was able to land about 100 metres from the snowboarder. The SAR team then skied into his location where he was warmed up before being flown to the Courtenay Airpark where an ambulance transported him to the hospital for treatment.
Search and Rescue personnel say the snowboarder was out of bounds when the incident happened.
They are warning about very dangerous avalanche conditions currently in many areas that are out-of-bounds on Mount Washington and elsewhere in the backcountry.
Dean Stoltz
