RCMP dog helps save Creston man
By Castlegar Source
An RCMP dog named Denim was part of the team to save a man’s life near Creston this week, according to RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.
“A Creston area backcountry recreationalist, who became lost on Thompson Mountain on Sunday, was the latest of many in the province needing to be rescued by the RCMP and Search and Rescue volunteers,” Moskaluk said.
“On Dec. 27, at 5:01 p.m., the Creston RCMP received a report that a 23-year-old Creston-area man was lost on Thompson Mountain while snowboarding. The man had been accompanied by a friend on snowmobile.”
Moskaluk said the snowboarder had gotten lost and became separated from his partner, who in turn notified the RCMP. The Creston RCMP immediately activated the Creston Search and Rescue team, who were assisted by Nelson Search and Rescue.
“With the additional resources of an RCMP Police Service Dog and handler from Cranbrook, SAR volunteers and the RCMP dog team went into the area that evening and located fresh signs of the snowboarder,” Moskaluk said. “RCMP Cpl. Sullivan, with Police Dog Denim in tow, skied into what was described as a dangerous gully area where they eventually caught up to the man who had kept moving slightly ahead of his rescuers.
“Other than being cold, the man had no apparent injuries,” said Moskaluk, adding Cpl. Sullivan then waited with the snowboarder until SAR members could reach them. “Due to the terrain that the snowboarder had gotten himself into, SAR members had to create a long path through the deep snow to the snowboarder’s location in order for all parties to be able to get out safely. SAR volunteers and Cpl. Sullivan described the area as one where you don’t get out of alive, without some assistance.”
RCMP Dog Handler Cpl. Phil Sullivan said the terrain and conditions were quite treacherous.
“The young man may have been a bit shocky from hypothermia, as he kept moving ahead of me despite my calls out to him,” Sullivan said. “Once I reached him, had it not been for a large SAR group essentially digging a way to walk out, we’d have all spent the night on the mountain.”
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