Columbia Valley Search and Rescue came to the aid of an injured climber in the Bugaboos, with help from Golden Search and Rescue and a mountain guide.
Steve Talsma, Search Manager with Columbia Valley SAR said they responded to the call in Bugaboo Provincial Park Tuesday evening.
Two Mountain Rescue members were flown in by Columbia Valley SAR to meet the existing members already on scene with the ACMG guide (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides)
“We had two Columbia Valley SAR members who were also climbing in the area this week that assisted the guide on scene and they kind of packaged him and got him ready for the helicopter, moved him to an area that was easy to land.”
With assistance from CMH and Coldstream Helicopters, the injured climber was flown to Invermere.
Talsma told MyEastKootenayNow.com that the hiker had a dislocated shoulder, leading to the response by Search and Rescue.
“It would have been a long, very uncomfortable trip out any other way. Also, the shoulder didn’t go back in so it had been out for over an hour from the time of the injury to when we were able to pick him up,” said Talsma. “Other than that, he seemed pretty stable and the rest of his group was able to get out on their own.”
The BC Ambulance Service took the climber into their care to treat the man’s injury.