Police suspend search for 3 mountaineers missing near Squamish, B.C.

Police in Squamish, B.C., say search-and-rescue teams have temporarily suspended their efforts to find three mountaineers missing for nearly a week.

RCMP say the pause stems from “significant challenges” posed by unstable conditions on Mount Garibaldi, around 65 kilometres north of Vancouver, where the trio was last seen on May 31.

They say in a statement that the climbers’ families are requesting privacy “during this difficult time.”

The Mounties say they expect the search will resume after analysis of video footage captured by drones over the last two days.

The statement says the exact timing will depend on weather conditions and reassessment of risks in the area that rescuers describe as remote, with “complex terrain.”

‘Extreme winter’ conditions hamper efforts

Squamish Search and Rescue started Thursday’s search “at first light” around 5:30 a.m. PT,  with helicopters, ground searchers, drones and avalanche search dogs all involved in the operation.

The three missing climbers, who have been described by police as experienced, were attempting to summit Atwell Peak, a 2,655-metre peak just south of Mount Garibaldi’s main summit that is described as one of the most technical and challenging ascents in B.C.’s Coast Mountains.

The climbers were supposed to return to the Diamond Head trailhead on May 31, where they had left their vehicle.

Poor weather and avalanche risk prevented crews from searching the mountains for several days.

A break in the weather Wednesday meant several helicopters were able to fly over the region until late in the evening, though they weren’t able to get high enough into the mountains to conduct a ground search due to ongoing dangerous conditions.

In an interview on CBC’s The Early Edition Thursday morning,  Squamish Search and Rescue manager B.J. Chute emphasized that the danger of heavy snowfall and avalanches in the mountains is still front of mind for rescue operations.

“Especially in the high alpine, where we are working, we’re still hampered by extreme winter conditions,” he said.

He said the warming weather made the risk of avalanche even greater, giving crews an “extremely limited window,” to find the climbers.

Local search-and-rescue teams have shared photos showing aerial views of a steep mountainside with bare rock jutting out from beneath snow cover.

The identities of the climbers have not been made public. Chute said it is known the climbers had all the proper equipment to help them survive.