Teen Snowboarder Rescued After 5-Hour Mount Seymour Search

When a teenage snowboarder realized he was stuck in a dangerous gully with only 10 percent battery on his phone, he made a call that would save his life.

The 19-year-old left Mount Seymour's Brockton Chair around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, crossed an uncontrolled boundary, and ended up in Suicide Gully. This steep drainage area is known for dangerous waterfalls and almost no cell service.

After struggling to climb back up through deep snow, the snowboarder called for help around 12:30 p.m. His phone was dying, and police couldn't pinpoint his exact location from the call alone.

North Shore Rescue volunteers hit the mountain by 2 p.m., splitting up to search both sides of the area. Within an hour, Seymour Ski Patrol crews spotted a single snowboard track heading down the gully.

The real breakthrough came when North Vancouver RCMP launched a thermal drone from the parking lot. When the snowboarder spotted the drone overhead, he started calling for help.

Search manager Don Jardine said the rescue team couldn't hear him at first, but they could hear his shouts echoing through the gully. They found him around 5 p.m., cold and exhausted but uninjured.

The crew warmed him up and gave him snowshoes to trek out through the deep snow. He was wearing only his ski gear with no extra clothing or emergency equipment.

The Bright Side

This rescue highlights how preparation and teamwork can turn a dangerous situation into a success story. The snowboarder was lucky in several ways: pleasant weather, a cell signal in an area known for poor reception, and a quick response from multiple rescue teams working together.

Jardine noted that rescues in this area happen so often that volunteers built an emergency cache near the waterfall. The spot has seen serious injuries and deaths from people continuing over the waterfalls.

The search manager's advice is straightforward: stay within ski resort boundaries unless you have proper backcountry skills, knowledge, and equipment. "Once you cross those boundaries, you're going into unknown terrain that you're going to have a hard time getting back out of," he said.

He also recommends skiing or hiking with a buddy whenever possible. "I think maybe if two people had gone out, they wouldn't have made this mistake," Jardine said.

Thanks to favorable conditions, modern technology, and dedicated volunteers who know the mountain intimately, this story ended with everyone heading home safely.