Search continues for two men missing on B.C.’s North Shore mountains

VANCOUVER – North Shore Rescue says the search for two men who have gone missing while snowshoeing near Cypress Mountain is particularly challenging because crews don’t know what route they took.

West Vancouver police confirmed that a vehicle belonging to 43-year-old Tin Hou Lee was found in a parking area at the mountain on Sunday evening.

Rescue crews began their search for Lee and 64-year-old Chun Sek Lam, who was known to be with him, on Monday morning.

North Shore Rescue spokesman Mike Danks says the search was called off for the night and will resume Wednesday morning.

He says weather conditions have limited the search with many areas that hikers typically fall into being inaccessible to crews because of the avalanche risk.

Danks says the men did not leave behind a plan of where they were going, and they were not carrying the appropriate gear to protect them from avalanches or the frigid temperatures overnight.

With weather conditions improving Tuesday, Danks says two helicopters were deployed and crews were searching large areas of Cypress and the neighbouring mountains to find the men.

Crews did manage to find a 20-year-old snowboarder Tuesday morning after he spent the night in a back country area on Cypress.

Danks says anyone going into the mountains must stay within trails and boundaries, and not take any risks.