Ah yes, it's winter. And here we go:

Two skiers in British Columbia went out-of-bounds and got themselves into a very dangerous avalanche zone.

They are not known to be experienced in wilderness survival.

They have been communicating by SMS (text message).

North Shore Rescue (local SAR with a pretty good rep.) has determined that it is far too dangerous to risk people to get to them until morning. (Correct call, IMO.)

These two individuals are going to have a very cold, unpleasant night. Hope they make it out alive.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-co...rning-1.3891985

I agree with your opinion. Not all rescue incidents have fairy tale endings and unreasonable risk for rescuers is a no-go.

Skiers were rescued this morning. It is harrowing conditions up there and the skiers were lucky that SAR were able to get them out via HEC (Human Extraction Cargo system) from a chopper.

Yikes. Thanks for the update. One of my "bucket list" items is to not be in a circumstance where HEC is better than the alternatives.

I think we share the same bucket list.

It has been discussed a number of times in the forum where the advent of technology to call for rescue contributes to people putting themselves in bad situations.

Having to spend the night in bad conditions hopefully taught them and others that when an area has been placed off limits it is done so for a reason. Rescue is not always a few minutes away and Rescuers shouldn't be put at risk for other's poor choices.

This post, and the truck drivers stranded in Canada post, also shows why it's important to have basic survival gear at the ready. Winter happens every year and a pound or two of gear in a backpack or trunk can make the difference between a cold night or a life threatening situation.

I'm happy everyone is okay. Hopefully more informed choices will be made from their experiences.

One of the paradoxes of successful rescue units is that they raise expectations and some folks (way too many) conclude that they can wander blissfully about the hills because Mountain Rescue Group XYZ will unfailingly spring to their aid.

I actually had an individual who we rescued tell me that he would not have been on the trip he almost completed if he hadn't known of our unit and our history (which by that time had several successful endings- wasn't always that way).

North Shore Rescue as I understand has an excellent and well deserved reputation*. For them to leave someone on the slope all night to ponder the error of their ways, may send a signal that yes, in some weather conditions and locations they do refuse rescues. Good wake up call.

* Fortunately I do not have first hand knowledge.

It is not about sending a signal or leaving someone to ponder the error of their ways. Simple fact of the matter is, those lost skiers were in an extreme risk area and without daylight and good weather, NSR did not want to put their own members at extreme risk. I applaud them for having to make a difficult decision like this and that there was a good outcome at the end.

SAR groups I have known are essentially nonjudgmental, certainly during the operational phases. There is no way to know if, and how, your victims may have screwed up.

After ops it is a different story, but most groups self critique and review their own errors and potential shortcomings -"How could we have performed better??>>>>"

I'm not saying NSR refused the rescue to send a message. The reasoning to refuse was sound. That said, for anyone out there thinking SAR will always show, this was in fact a signal that no, they don't. NSR made a good call.