By Canadian Press

Woman rescued off B.C. glacier calls those who braved smoky conditions ‘superheroes’

Jul 29, 2024 | 4:35 PM

KASLO, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — One of the four hikers plucked off a glacier in British Columbia’s West Kootenay region as wildfires burned around them says the search and rescue team members who brought them home were like “superheroes”

Laurence Desjardins says the weather changed rapidly for the experienced group who spent last Wednesday night on the Macbeth Ice Fields listening to the winds howl and watching ash fall, before calling for help on Thursday.

Mark Jennings-Bates, with the Kaslo Search and Rescue, says a skilled helicopter pilot was able to navigate the winds and thick smoke to rescue the hikers from the side of an alpine lake.

He says the four were well prepared and used an iPhone’s emergency SOS feature to provide rescuers with their precise location.

Desjardins says the friends were emotional as they were being flown out of danger because they could see trees around the trail they had used to hike in on had been burned.

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“The real heroes of this story are the search and rescue team. These guys are doing this unpaid, on their time … and they were just incredible,” she said.

“I really felt like a kid looking up at superheroes or something. They were incredible.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2024

The Canadian Press