A hiker watches as a helicopter takes his friends back to Bertram Creek Park. The Central Okanagan Search and Rescue Volunteers had an active afternoon on Saturday. Around 12:30 p.m. COSAR was called in to assist Penticton Search and Rescue as they searched for a missing person in the Summerland area. Eight COSAR members, including the dog group, teamed up with about a dozen other volunteers from the Penticton and Oliver / Osoyoos SAR. Two hours later, the team was called to Okanagan Mountain Park to help a group of hikers. COSAR said the four young men had climbed from Naramata when one of them fell through a snow bridge near the top. The man sank into the creek below and became hypothermic as the four tried to complete their journey to the cabin on Lake Divide, where they called for help. “Despite their accident, they did a lot of things right,” said search director Duane Tresnich. “They walked until they got cell coverage and called for help. We were able to arrange a helicopter from Bertram Creek Park and send a team to pick them up. “If they waited until dark, a group of ground would need much more.” It was the tenth project of 2022 for the voluntary organization of search and rescue. While rescues are free in BC, Tresnich reminds adventurers that it is a good idea to carry the 10 essentials when you are in the back, including a Personal Locator Beacon, in case there is no cell cover. Saturday was the busiest day of 2022 for COSAR, which was also ready this morning to present a check in honor of Ryan Fletcher, who died in a snowboarding accident at the Big White Ecological Reserve last December. Photo: COSAR
