Whistler Search and Rescue crews respond to rising number of emergency calls

As the number of visitors to Whistler increases year-over-year, so too do the calls coming into Whistler Search and Rescue, which says a surge in backcountry skiing, snowmobiling and mountain biking has ledto a 20 per cent increase in emergency responses over the previous year.

Between March 7, 2017 and March 4, 2018, there were 56 incidents where search and rescue assistance was required, up from 46 the year before, according to Whistler Search and Rescue.

Increase in trauma calls

"We see far more trauma then we ever used toand so thatcreated a training shift of significant proportions," said Brad Sills, manager for Whistler Search and Rescue.

Two physicians joined the Whistler Search and Rescue team five years agoto deal with the increase in call volume, as well as anincrease in the complexities of various traumas that were responded to.

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The team of 32 volunteers train weekly, practicing and updating their skills in mountain, avalanche andswift watersafety.

A Whistler Search and Rescue2018 manager's report released March 6, showssnowmobiling was the"single largest contributor to trauma by activity,"with 11 call outs, including one death.

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The founding member of Nanaimo's Search and Rescue was killed February 14 near Whistler, whena ledge of snow fell from under him, sending him down a hill.

Karl Baker was snowmobiling with a group near Mount Callaghan, northwest of the village,when he stopped on a cornice that suddenly gave way.

The rise in search and rescue calls coincides with a surge in visitors to the resort.

Thetown has seen a dizzying growth,with visitsup 59 per cent over a ten-year period. The 2016/17 season saw close to 3.5 million visitors compared to 2.2 million in 2006/2007.

Changing demographics

Sills said the demographics of those who get intotrouble in the outdoors has shifted in the last decade.

Ten years ago, the call volume was more heavily weighted to young males aged 15-25. That has since changed.

"We've seen it inthe30 to 40-year-old range ... thathas increased substantially," said Sills. "The teenage boys got older."

Calls for females on the rise

And last year, females made up 40 per cent of search and rescue responses in Whistler. Sills saidten years ago, calls for trauma or injury amongfemales were few and far between.

In April, 2016, the body of a 48-year-old woman was found at the base of a 25-metre cliff in the West Ridge area on Whistler Mountain. The local woman was found by another skier.

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The report noted there was a rise in the number of mountain bike incidents, but noted this was likely an anomolydue to newly created venues on Rainbow and Sproatt mountains.

Foreign nationals represented 22 of the response calls, while 14 were from B.C. residents.Whistler localsaccounted for 11, and the remaining 15 were from other Canadian areas.

Over the course of the 2016-2017 season, the report said the Whistler Search and Rescue recorded 1,115hours of volunteer effort.