8 replies to this topic

[mikest2]

A really unfortunate series of events:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/...ort-rescue.html

[Kicking Horse]

Bullshit that AN SOS was ignored.

I hope someone get's hanged for this.

[Peter]

Sounds like their big mistake was assuming there had to be a missing persons report for there to be a missing person, a mistake that will hopefully be learned from and not happen again.

[Aussierob]

I'm a memeber of the Search and Rescue team in Whistler and I will be very interested to see what comes out of this. Based only on media reports (accuracy variable), it seems to be a communication problem between the agencies involved. It would also appear the victims deliberately went out of bounds without taking some basic precautions. We'll see how it develops.

This post has been edited by Aussierob: 26 February 2009 - 09:05 PM

[liftmech]

There was a comment on the CBC site about how the team 'doesn't go out unless they get paid', i.e. dispatched by the RCMP. Is SAR a paid group in Canada? Here in the States it's all volunteer, and we go out without knowing if the team will ever be reimbursed for any expenses. I've been out on several wild-goose chases, but at the end of the day the fact remains that we went out in good faith that we were looking for someone. I would imagine a heli-skiing guide wouldn't just report an SOS for fun; that sort of report is enough for us to be paged out. This is definitely a sad story, and one that I imagine will be brought up at our next team meeting here.

[Peter]

Quebec skier sues B.C. authorities for alleged failure to launch search
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/20...se-lawsuit.html
CBC News


A Quebec man whose wife died after the couple became lost in the mountains near a B.C. ski resort for 10 days is now suing organizations that he alleges decided not to launch a search for him.

In a statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Gilles Blackburn, 51, alleges the RCMP failed to initiate a ground search soon enough after the couple became lost.

His wife, Marie-Josée Fortin, 44, died of severe hypothermia about seven days after the couple skied out of bounds while at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in February.

Blackburn claims in the lawsuit that he suffers serious physical and psychological injuries due to the alleged negligence.

The claim alleges the Mounties knew, or should have known someone was lost after SOS signs stamped in the snow by the couple were spotted at least twice by a heli-ski pilot and reported to authorities by the company.

In court documents, Blackburn also accuses the Golden District Search and Rescue Association as well as the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort of negligence for not initiating a search after the signals were reported. The suit also names the attorney general of B.C. and other defendants.

When the SOS signs were first spotted, the search and rescue team later said they did check with the resort to see if any guests were overdue or reported missing, but finding no evidence of missing persons, they decided not to send a team into the area and did not notify the RCMP.

When the SOS signals were first reported to the RCMP a few day later, officers said they checked with the search and rescue team, who told them the signs had already been investigated.

Blackburn was finally rescued after a group of returning heli-skiers once again reported seeing the SOS signals a third time and a rescue was finally launched by the RCMP.

The RCMP later admitted publicly that they made a mistake by not launching a search when they were first notified that SOS signs had been spotted in the snow. The force said it was conducting an internal review of the incident.

In an interview with CBC News after the rescue, Blackburn said it was his fault the couple made the decision to ski out of bounds, but he blamed the RCMP and other rescue agencies for the fact the ordeal went on so long.

The Kicking Horse Mountain Resort is located in the Purcell Mountains near Golden, B.C.

[2milehi]

Skier, on May 8 2009, 01:46 PM, said:

His wife, Marie-Josée Fortin, 44, died of severe hypothermia about seven days after the couple skied out of bounds while at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in February.

Blackburn claims in the lawsuit that he suffers serious physical and psychological injuries due to the alleged negligence.

And if they didn't ski out of bounds, the wife would be alive and the husband wouldn't be suffering from the horrendous event. Once again we see that when someone makes a bad decision it is someone else’s fault. And if Blackburn is successful with the lawsuit, will his wife come back to life? What a jackass

[cfrankrun58]

I totally agree! Not to say loosing your wife is not a bad thing and I feal for his loss but take some responibilty for your own actions. Maybe he should be sue himself.

cfrankrun58

[Ontariodude]

I think if your going into the backcountry, you need to assume the risk that something bad may happen. From what I gather, they went somewhere where they should not have gone; therefore I don't agree with the lawsuit being made.

This post has been edited by Ontariodude: 13 May 2009 - 02:39 PM