Heading into the back country well prepared proved to be a wise decision for a trio of missing skiers who were located on Thursday morning.
The trio ventured out near the Bombi Summit on Sunday planning to ski and snowboard for a few days.
However, on Wednesday a friend of the skiers notified the Salmo RCMP that the skiers had activated an emergency distress signal.
South Columbia Search and Rescue (SCSAR) along with Nelson and Castlegar teams were called out Wednesday evening to begin a search, which carried on until 1:30 a.m. until conditions began to deteriorate.
“We resumed search operations (Thursday) morning at 8 a.m. and had skiers, sledders, and UTV operations as well as a helicopter,” explained Mike Hudson of SCSAR. “We located the subjects at around 10:20 a.m. and we’re able to safety get them to the helicopter landing area.
“They were all found in good condition and healthy. They had some equipment failure and with the poor weather became disoriented and turned around and lost.
“The big key factors to the success of this rescue was that all three subjects were well prepared, lots of food and water, shelter and warmth and they had a spot beacon in the event of an emergency. The other big factor is their pre plan. They had a detailed route, exit points, timelines and periodic check on points.
“This kind of pre planning and preparedness is key for us to find people quickly and safely.”
The three were transported to Nelson.