Stranded hikers rescued

Photo: Contributed - PENSAR

Penticton Search and Rescue was called out Tuesday to evacuate a group of stranded hikers from Manning Provincial Park.

Princeton RCMP alerted Princeton ground SAR after police received a distress call that four males had become stranded in a wilderness area along the Canada-U.S. border, south of Manning Park Lodge. 

Ground crews determined that getting to the subjects in a timely manner was going to be difficult and requested the assistance of Penticton's helicopter team.

PENSAR's HETS team was mobilized at 11:30 a.m.

HETS stands for helicopter external transfer system, in which subjects are lifted by long line. The method allows rapid insertion of rescuers and extraction of subjects from otherwise difficult locations.

The helicopter team located three males near the border. The fourth member of the group had left before the HETS team arrived and wandered off into the woods. He was later found by Princeton SAR.

The HETS team extracted the trio and turned them over to waiting Princeton SAR members. They were taken by all-terrain vehicle back to Manning Park Lodge, where they where turned over to an ambulance crew about 3 p.m., said PENSAR spokesman Randy Brown.

The rescue operation involved 22 personnel from the RCMP Air Services Section, BC Parks and search and rescue teams from Hope, Princeton and Penticton.

There was no word on the condition of the hikers.