Police say improved weather forecast for Wednesday could give searchers a chance at finding the three mountaineers who went missing while climbing Mount Garibaldi last week.
RCMP and Squamish Search and Rescue have been working to locate the missing mountaineers since Friday (May 31) when they were reported overdue to police.
Adverse weather has hampered their efforts, however, with heavy cloud cover making aerial search efforts difficult and avalanche conditions similarly limiting searches on the ground.
Wednesday may finally provide a window of opportunity, though, Squamish RCMP said in a news release on Tuesday afternoon. The detachment said weather models are showing a clearing trend and that they are hopeful this will allow them to conduct an assessment from the air.
This, the detachment said, is “necessary prior to placing search and rescue personnel into this complex terrain.”
“We have our highly specialized team members on standby ready to respond. We are working with avalanche technicians who will be assessing the risks as we are facing winter conditions in the area,” BJ Chute, manager of Squamish Search and Rescue, added in a statement.
Members of the public are asked to stay out of the Garibaldi Mountain and Atwell Peak area so rescue efforts aren’t hindered.
The three climbers have not been identified. They were last seen Friday morning on Atwell Peak on the southern edge of Mount Garibaldi.
