North Shore Rescue is carrying out an avalanche response drill today at Dog Mountain, near Mt. Seymour.
Here’s the scenario: 12 snowshoers are up a slope on the Dog Mountain outlook, when an avalanche hits.
Today it’s just an exercise, but just as in a real emergency, Drill Director Tim Jones says his team has had to adjust to the conditions, switching from a planned helicopter response to a rescuse by land.
“Unfortunately, the weather flagged out on Dog Mountain, so we can’t long line our members in, so they’re going to be doing a conventional land-based response. This is the west coast weather we have to deal with in training!”
Jones adds North Shore Rescue carries out about a dozen helicopter rescues a year.