North Shore Rescue team busy this summer

It been a busy summer for the volunteer members of the North Shore Rescue team, who made their eighth rescue in just five days last night.

The latest call came just after 6 p.m. PT Wednesday, reporting a woman screaming for help near St. Mark's Summit on the Howe Sound Crest Trail north of Cypress Provincial Park. She had fractured her ankle and had to be pulled out in a longline rescue.

Team spokesman Mike Danks said the long weekend was filled with back-to-back calls, including one of the most treacherous rescues they've carried out this summer a tourist who was stranded near Grouse Mountain just as it was getting dark on Saturday.

"He was in very steep technical terrain on top of a waterfall, below a cliff bed. It took the team eight hours to get him out."

Danks says August was three times as busy as usual with 29 calls and the volunteers were run off their feet

"In September we're past our normal quota already. I think it comes down to the weather and we have a lot of tourists that are visiting Vancouver as well."

Danks is reminding people to prepare for hikes before they leave so team members can avoid those preventable rescues.

• North Shore Rescue's tips on preparing for a hike