Skier injured by avalanche on Mount Seymour taken to hospital
Rescuers carry man off mountain after helicopter grounded in poor conditions
North Shore Rescue says an injured skier has been safely taken to hospital after breaking his leg in an avalanche.
Rescue crews were called to Mount Seymour Provincial Park to assist the skier Tuesday afternoon.
Spokesperson Mike Danks said the skier, 35, was swept several hundred metres by a Category 2 wet avalanche and his leg was broken when he hit a tree.
The skier was on the Seymour Alpine Trail, on the southeast face of First Pump.
Danks says about 30 members of North Shore Rescue used ropes and a stretcher to carry the injured skier down steep terrain to get him to safety. A helicopter was in the area but was grounded due to low clouds.
"It was a huge process but a good team effort," Danks said of the effort to get the skier down the mountain.
Danks says the skier was handed off to an ambulance at the parking lot of Mount Seymour and has been taken to hospital in stable condition.
Avalanche Canada described the avalanche risk in the area of Mount Seymour as "moderate" to "considerable," depending on the elevation and called avalanches "likely."
With files from Matthew Lazin-Ryder