Fernie Search and Rescue

09/13/2025

The team has been busy with further call-outs including false alerts, injured mountain bikers and a major recovery operation near Kimberley with numerous other SAR teams.

As the busy summer rescue season (hopefully) slows down, and hunting season begins, our thoughts turn to the Fall, which typically include some of our most labour-intensive responses – calls for “overdue hunters”.

Many of our members enjoy hunting season and our request to fellow hunters is to make sure someone knows where you are going – even a post-it on a fridge with an area will make a huge difference. Ideally take an InReach or SPOT device so that you can be found quickly in the event of an emergency, and it will also allow you to communicate changes in plans.

Without those basic steps the “overdue hunter” call can consume hundreds of hours of rescuer time, involving aircraft, road searches, social media campaigns, interviews with friends, family, work colleagues and working with our friends at the RCMP on all the investigative tools they have while we try and establish where the missing person is. Sometimes we don’t even know which Province they are in.

Please help us avoid these kinds of responses; not only will it save us a lot of unnecessary time and work, it also means an emergency response can be quick and efficient should you need one.

Happy and safe hunting season!

The team works in collaboration with 911 agencies, neighbouring SAR teams and Ascent and Bighorn Helicopters.

09/05/2025

Summer season continues to be busy with a lot of activity over the recent long weekend.

The group has been dealing with numerous injured bikers around the valley, including dislocations, broken bones and other medical emergencies. There have been calls for lost and stranded hikers, vehicle rollovers and body recovery work.

Our work is a collaboration with neighbouring SAR teams, 911 agencies and Ascent and Bighorn Helicopters.

07/10/2025

Busy summer season continues.

Calls have included:
- A biker suffering from anaphylaxis due to an insect sting;
- Numerous injured bikers;
- Some cliffed-out hikers; and
- An injured child out hiking in the Top of the World area.

We also found time to train with our friends at Island Lake Lodge for a multiple scenario incident.

We work in partnership with our neighbouring SAR groups; local 911 agencies and Ascent and Bighorn Helicopters.

06/08/2025

Fernie SAR is into the busy summer season. We are responding regularly to injured bikers on the trail networks, as well as some water-related emergencies.

General themes we would like to remind people of:-

- However well you plan, things can go wrong.
- A good plan does not eliminate risk, it anticipates problems and what to do if the worst occurs.
- How will you call for help (cell is very limited outside of the valley), what will you do while you wait for help to arrive? Does anyone else know where you are?
- The warmer temperatures mean that the immediate environmental risks of an injury diminish, but the injuries we see this time of year are often more severe.

Our team works closely with our rescue partners at Fernie Fire, BCAS and the RCMP as well as Ascent and Bighorn Helicopters, and numerous local groups and landowners.

03/17/2025

Fernie SAR continues to be called upon regularly for winter rescues.

Calls in the last few weeks have included injured snowmobilers and skiers, as well as providing specialised air support to neighboring groups.

Winter themes continue:-

·      Parties needing assistance will need a sat-enabled device. Cellphones will rarely have signal or sufficient power. SPOT and InReach continue to be the devices that work the most reliably, based on recent experiences.

·      Backcountry recreationalists that take emergency precautions stand the best chances of a successful outcome in the event of an accident. The ability to provide first aid, keep injured people warm and call for help is essential.

·      The SAR model seeks the necessary resources at the time of the emergency – there are not rescuers and helicopters standing by at all times of the day and night. As such, while Plan A may be a 20 minute long-line response, Plan B will often involve a gruelling multi-hour ground extraction. For long-line responses to take place, trained rescuers, specially-certified pilots and adapted aircraft all need to be available, with sufficient daylight remaining to complete the mission.

·      By way of example, a rescue of an injured snowmobiler this weekend required moving someone in a toboggan through blizzard conditions and treacherous terrain. The rescue took over 10 hours and was completed at 4am. These responses are hard on subjects and hard on the rescuers.

As usual, all our responses involve team work with our amazing rescue partners throughout the valley.

02/23/2025

Let's play smart for the next few days.

01/05/2025

Busy season started for Fernie SAR during the Christmas break. Calls have included an all-night response for some lost sledders, a number of injured sledders needing medevac and a fatality.

Rescue messages remain the same: how are you going to call for help (cellphones won't work away from the valley); how will you stay warm and provide first aid while you wait for help and also recognising how early it goes dark, changing an air response to a ground response. The latter takes many hours.

We have had some experience with people calling for help via the iPhone 14 that has sat messaging. There is no doubt that this is a great tool, but we recommend InReach or Spot type devices as well. Recent experience suggests that location data is not automatically embedded in the iPhone messaging, which caused issues recently. Also a lot of folk are using their phones for other things during the day - the battery may be weak by the time you need help. Keeping a dedicated emergency communication device pays off when you really need it.

As usual, our work is a partnership with 911 agencies and neighboring groups.

Stay safe out there!

10/13/2024

Update on Fernie SAR responses since our last update. The team has been busy throughout the late summer and Fall:-

· Biking injuries on both Contra and Trail Dogs that required extrication;
· A couple of searches for missing people, one at Rosen Lake and one in Wardner, providing K9 support to a neighbouring SAR group, as well as a missing 12 year old in the Castle Mountain area – all were found safe and well;
· A call from a hiker on Mt Procter who felt scared there might be bears in the area (please don’t call SAR for this!);
· A hiker with a broken leg on Heiko’s Trail;
· A couple of callouts to support Waterton Parks Visitor Safety for missing and injured hikers;
· A rescue of a 65 year old woman injured near the top of Mt Fernie after a fall off the trail.

Overwhelming themes are that accidents happen, as much as you may prepare. What differentiates a good outcome from a bad one is what planning has been made in case of an incident. Being able to call for help, having first aid and warm clothing and knowing that someone somewhere will call for help for you if needed (a trip plan) make a huge difference. This will become all the more pronounced as we head into the colder weather – wilderness rescue can take hours – specialised resources are not always immediately available. Sitting in the sun waiting for help is very different to sitting in the rain or snow.

As always, rescues are teamwork with our amazing partners at the RCMP, BCAS and Fernie Fire/Rescue. Many rescues require the expertise of our colleagues at Ascent and Bighorn Helicopters.

Stay safe out there!

08/10/2024

Busy season continues.

Recent tasks have included injured mountain bikers, runners and hikers, medical responses including heat-related and cardiac emergencies as well as mutual aid work with neighbouring SAR groups.

Please note earlier statements from Parks Canada regarding the challenges of timely air responses during wildfire season.

As always, these tasks are team work with partner emergency agencies and Ascent Helicopters.

Stay safe out there!

07/31/2024

07/26/2024

Please note this important safety message.

07/15/2024

River users please be aware of a new and dangerous hazard at the logjam behind the Fernie dump.

A new sweeper (fallen tree) is making river right exceptionally dangerous. A number of people have become entangled in it. Please exit river and walk beyond the hazard unless you are in a river craft that can be easily steered.