B.C. snowboarder rescued after avalanche hits
Last Updated: Saturday, February 28, 2009 | 4:49 PM PT
CBC News
A snowboarder is recovering in hospital after a dramatic rescue in the backcountry of B.C.'s Central Kootenays.
The man was part of a group riding in the backcountry near the small community of Ymir on Friday afternoon when an avalanche hit.
Ski guide Patric Maloney got a call for help and immediately set out to the site by helicopter. He said the rescue was a race against time.
"We had about 30 minutes of daylight. It took us about 10 minutes to launch the rescue from the lodge and another 10 minutes to get out to the scene," he said.
"Luckily … we were able to spot them right away and we were dropped on site. It took us about 10 minutes to hike to where we could ski down to him. We basically met it right under the wire for getting there before dark."
Maloney said he found the snowboarder pinned against some trees, his board snapped in half.
Rescuers towed the man down the mountain in a snowmobile trailer, where they met Nelson Search and Rescue and the BC Ambulance Service.
Maloney said the man was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital with a broken leg and internal injuries. His condition was not known on Saturday.
Ymir is approximately 650 kilometres east of Vancouver.
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