VANCOUVER 鈥� Authorities are warning hard-core hikers to stop climbing the popular Grouse Grind trail on Grouse Mountain after search and rescue crews responded to an unfounded distress call amid an avalanche scare.
The avalanche reported to have happened around 10 a.m. Sunday at the three-quarter mark turned out to be a fallen tree. The hiker reported to be injured made it to the top on his own.
Still, a helicopter and 12-person search-and-rescue ground crew had to search the trail and authorities say the continued use of the closed hiking area by a small number of winter warriors is irresponsible.
A group of several hikers walked past crews in the lower portions of the trail Sunday afternoon, disregarding warnings to stop their ascent said Ken Juvik, who works for Metro 91原创 monitoring and caring for the trail for over a decade.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just unbelievable, and then the additional risk they transfer to the rescue responders and everybody else,鈥� Juvik said.
鈥淲hen the ice and snow start accumulating on the trail, it鈥檚 very steep, it鈥檚 very remote and there is potential for an avalanche to occur.鈥�
Juvik 鈥� who works in collaboration with Grouse Mountain, the North 91原创 RCMP and North Shore Rescue 鈥� said the Grouse Grind may appear close to amenities at the top and bottom of the mountain, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 that in-between area when you鈥檙e on the trail 鈥� you鈥檙e in a forested setting, very steep terrain and weather conditions changing very rapidly.鈥�
People should not hike the trail, which has an elevation gain of 900 metres during the winter, North Shore Search and Rescue spokesman Tim Jones cautioned.
鈥淭here鈥檚 other alternative areas,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淕rouse Mountain has a snowshoe grind in their own snowshoe park. And if people want to get that exercise, they should go up there in that well-managed area.鈥�
The timing mechanism that registers serious grinders鈥� times is moved to the top of the snowshoe area in winter months so people can measure their time against the summer challenge.
An RCMP avalanche dog team was also en route to help in the search before the incidents were cleared up, Jones added.
Private company Talon Helicopters, based in Richmond, dispatched one aircraft to scour the mountain Sunday. The company bills B.C.鈥檚 Provincial Emergency Program, but not the search subject directly.
The cost for flying Talon鈥檚 helicopter is just under $2,900 an hour, said office assistant Jeanette Lim, who does the invoicing. Lim said she didn鈥檛 know how many hours were flown by the pilot Sunday.
In January 1999, an avalanche killed an Ontario man and prompted an almost five-month closure.
The Grouse Grind hearkens back to 1894, when hunters hiked up the mountain鈥檚 precipitous slopes and bagged a grouse. The first wave of hikers came in the 1920s and 1930s, as 91原创ites made their way to cabins in Grouse Mountain Village. Grouse Mountain is the site of an alpine ski area in the winter season overlooking Greater 91原创.
Mountaineers Don MacPherson and Phil Severy cut the Grind out of the wilderness in 1981-83. They wanted a trail where they could get a good workout, yet ride down so they wouldn鈥檛 wreck their knees. The answer was to run the trail up to the Grouse gondola.
They also helped rebuild the trail between 1995 and 1997.
