Emergency Overnight Stay - Hiker Shares Story | BC AdventureSmart Summer Series 2024

You head into the mountains expecting to reach your destination (HOME) safely however, an expected shortcut results in you slipping, tumbling down a steep gully. You end up staying overnight, unplanned, in the mountains!
Our guest had this happen to them at age 77. Join us as Theirry brings us through the rollercoaster and challenges faced from the time he left the trail until, finally, he was airlifted to safety.
Comox Valley SAR member Paul Berry will also be a guest, sharing insights from this SAR task, regional perspectives and reliable resources for hikers.
Data Deets: Hikers are the #1 most common user group requiring search and rescue in British Columbia.
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[@ScottAMontague]

Harrowing story, great outcome. Thanks to both Theirry and Paul for joining us!

[@sleuththewild]

I don't understand why this fella wasn't carrying the "10 essentials" and plenty of water, especially since he was leading groups of students?

[@ScottAMontague]

Theirry mentioned that this was a hike they did "every year"... and this does contribute. In previous webinars we've also featured subjects who were on a "familiar" hike and, subsequently, didn't have all the equipment they would normally take for a new-to-them hike.
You can even see it on the local difficult trails -- few people take a full kit up the BCMC or up the Chief even though they should.
The basis behind this is "Survivorship Bias", which in this case is a level of complacency that comes from completing the hike before multiple times. You know what to expect -- going up doesn't take as long as it first did as you're no longer looking for cues to where the trail goes, etc.
Once you've done a bunch of times you figure "heck, why I am carrying all this stuff? This is an easy trail, I know what to expect", etc.
I personally often catch myself thinking the same way -- sometimes after the fact.
One more note for this particular example: From the pictures, most people had backpacks on. There may have been a thought that there was enough supplies amongst the whole group -- which, of course, assumes the whole group stays together.