*** Lost Backcountry Skier found Alive & Well in Garibaldi Park ***

Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia
6th April 1996

5th April 1997
Lions Bay Search & Rescue were notified by Squamish SAR that a 36 year-old
female, Joanne Linsey, was missing from a backcountry ski trip in the Paul
Ridge region of Garibaldi Park. The last report of the missing subject
indicated that she became separated from her skiing partner near the
skiers high point on Paul Ridge, at approximately 2.30pm on 5th April.
There was very poor visibility at the time and since then up to 3 inches
of fresh snow had fallen on Paul Ridge.

Joanne was a member of a six-person group from the Seattle area who had
been skiing from the Elfin Shelter on Paul Ridge, below Garibaldi Mountain.
An initial response by Squamish SAR on the evening of the 5th of April had
contained the search area but had not succeeded in locating the subject.

Later the same evening a second report came through that another group of
three skiers were also missing in the region of Paul Ridge. At this time
it was decided to call in the assistance of a number of SAR teams from the
Lower Mainland of Vancouver, B.C., as well as to use the SAR Resource Kit.

6th April 1996
By close to midnight on the 5th April the second party of three skiers
had found there way to safety out of a gully system low on Paul Ridge but
the single American female remained unaccounted for. By 4am on the 6th
April the SAR Resource Kit was installed at the Squamish SAR base in
Squamish, B.C. and plans were updated for a multi-team mutual-aid
response scheduled to begin at 6.30am..

A helicopter, two RCMP police dogs, a Canadian Avalanche Association dog,
approximately 35 searchers and 15 support staff were gathered for rapid
deployment between 6.30 and 9am from the Squamish SAR base. The cloud
ceiling remained above the ridge-line of Paul Ridge, an area known for bad
weather and poor visibility. SAR teams were deployed by helicopter to the
Point Last Seen, the skiers High Point on the Paul Ridge trail. A group of
snowmobiles were kept on standby at the Paul Ridge trailhead, in case the
weather deteriorated and teams had to be deployed by ground.

By 9am most of the teams had been deployed, including a team following ski
tracks expected to be those of the three skiers who had found their way
out the night before. This team quickly realized they were folowing four
sets of tracks, not three, and later observed that one of these sets left
the others. A second team was deployed to an access point lower in the
drainage to search uphill towards this single set of tracks.

At 9.40am these searchers made voice contact with subject and soon reached
her. They quickly determined that, although cold, she was otherwise in
good condition. The sleeping bag she had been using during her previous
stay at the Elfin Shelter had provided reasonable protection during her
unplanned overnight bivouac. A landing site was cleared for the helicopter
and the subject was soon returned to a happy reunion with her skiing
partners waiting at the Squamish SAR base.

All the field teams were evacuated by helicopter shortly before the cloud
settled once again on Paul Ridge and fresh snow began to fall on the
surrounding mountains.

PEP Task# 990210
Prepared by

Martin Colwell
Lions Bay Search & Rescue