Local hiker airlifted out of canyon

Injuries are minor, but man couldn’t hike out with gashes and bruised ribs

An early-morning rescue from McIntyre Canyon involved 30 search and rescue members, a specialty helicopter from Chilliwack, and 15 hours of hard work by volunteers.

Gavin Mounsey, originally from Oliver, was the hiker that ended up in Penticton Regional Hospital with minor injuries after the dramatic rescue that saw him lifted by helicopter out of the canyon. His brother, Dale Mounsey, 16, was along on the camping trip with his brother and three others.

"We were going for a camping trip. We went to the Cathedrals," said Dale. "We were going to finish it off with a trip up the canyon, and then go down the river afterward."

According to Dale, Gavin was up from Whistler (where he now lives) with his friends. They decided to hike up the canyon above Gallagher Lake, across from McIntyre Bluff, on Thursday, July 20, for an overnight camping trip.

"We always hike up there, we’ve been up the canyon half-a-dozen times or more," Dale said. The whole group are experienced outdoorsmen, he said, and trained in first aid. The canyon is well-known as a local hiking spot.

On Friday, they left their base camp – which was about an hour-and-a-half hike from the highway – and headed up the river. They were another 1.5 hours up the canyon, when they decided to swim in one of the pools. Gavin jumped into the water.

"He jumped down, landed on a stick, and ripped open his thigh," Dale said. The stick was hidden in the water, under a rock shelf, Dale said.

Gavin swam to shore, and checked out his injuries. He was bleeding quite a bit from the gash, and also later found out he had bruised some ribs.

The others helped him get the bleeding under control – but a three-hour hike on slippery rocks was unfeasible.

"He said he wouldn’t be able to carry on," Dale said. "He told us to go for help down the canyon."

One of Gavin’s friends stayed behind with him, while the others hiked out, trying to find a place where they could get cellular phone service.

By the time they got service and called 911, Dale said it was probably about 6 p.m. Ian Mounsey, the boys’ father, came, as did the local search and rescue crew. One of the local search managers, Bruce MacPherson, said it was a unique and difficult rescue, partly due to the nature of the canyon and the proximity of power lines.

"We had to send a team in from the top. They had to climb down in the dark," he said. There were 13 local search and rescue members, six from Keremeos, eight from Penticton, and three from Chilliwack.

They brought in a helicopter from Penticton on Friday night, but it was getting too dark to use it. The team that climbed down into the canyon assessed Gavin, and agreed he could safely camp overnight until daylight. It was a tough assessment to make, because of difficulties communicating from the canyon, as well as time delay, said MacPherson.

"At the time it was possibly broken ribs and puncture wounds."

In the morning, the helicopter from Chilliwack, which was equipped for long-line rescue, lowered a Chilliwack Search and Rescue member on a 200-foot rope into the canyon, with a backboard. He unhooked, wrapped Gavin up in the apparatus, and re-assessed him. Then, he hooked to the rope again, and the helicopter lifted them both out of the canyon.

According to Dale, his brother was lifted out of the canyon about 6 a.m. on Saturday. He said that the whole crisis was handled pretty well by Gavin.

"He had a hard time breathing because of his ribs," he said, describing the situation as pretty calm and rational. "We knew what to do … he just didn’t think he could carry on down the canyon."

Ultimately, Gavin was taken to Penticton hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

Oliver receives grant to develop anti-crystal meth program

$10,000 allows town to hire coordinator

"Anyone who’s tried crystal meth for two to three days knows that it’s a little bit like being schizophrenic," said a recovering crystal meth user, 26, who’s requested to remain anonymous.

"The mind plays tricks on you," said the Oliver man. "You hear things that aren’t there, you see things that aren’t there…I believe it’s going to end up causing people to become schizophrenics."

He adds that it’s pretty scary the things that develop in the mind and the damage it causes during the time people are using. He said he was "using hard" for a year, about five days a week, and he’s now been "clean" for about ten weeks.

Crystal meth is closer than people think. It’s in the South Okanagan with statistics showing users as young as nine years old, and something needs to be done about it, said Tamara Aspell, of Desert Sun Counseling, who is the project coordinator for a new project called the South Okanagan Crystal Meth Task Force (SOCMTF), designed to educate the public.

"I think it’s a myth that our communities are too small and that crystal meth hasn’t touched us yet," said Aspell. "It’s not Kelowna or East Hastings, but it’s here, and as a community, we need to come together and get educated and be aware and our children need to too."

Aspell said that kids had better be educated before they’re nine years old, in case they do find themselves faced with the decision. "My six-year old twins know what it (crystal meth) is and that it will kill you. It’s just a path to destruction," she said. "Our youth have to be targeted, they have to know, and there has to be options for them, such as programs through the recreation centre. The kids need to get that high somewhere else.

"These kids will be adults one day, and they’ll be all mucked up…the effects of crystal meth are long-term," Aspell said.

The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) is administering the new program, which entails Aspell gathering together a task force from the community. The program has recently received funding for five months, July through November, provided by the Ministry of Public Safety and the Solicitor General, said Aspell. "Desert Sun has received $20,000, $10,000 for Oliver and $10,000 for Osoyoos."

Randy Toor, an auxiliary constable and Town Councillor, teamed up with Marji Basso, also a Town Councillor and a teacher at Oliver Elementary School, and the Desert Sun Counselling Centre to get the grant application going.

"The Osoyoos Indian Band started a task force against drugs and have been going at it for about six to seven months now," Toor said. "It’s not just a problem on the reserve…I mean, how far away are we? So we wanted to start one here. It’s a huge problem and an ugly one too." He said they (the task force) will be targeting the high school. "I’ll do the best I can to keep it out of there," said Toor, who has teenagers himself.

Basso said that the project is still in its infancy stage. "We’ve hired Tamara to carry it out, and she’s working on gathering a task force," she said. The group will be focused on community education, prevention, and awareness.

The task force will include all levels of the community, such as families touched by the effects of crystal meth, RCMP and paramedics, who are the first response to meth labs and busts, Interior Health, Mental Health, the School Board and District, and local business owners, such as from drugstores and hardware stores, said Aspell.

She mentions that the ingredients for crystal meth are readily available from our drugstores and hardware stores.

"Items like barbeque propane tanks, rubbing alcohol, rock salt, coffee filters, rubber tubing, large funnels, and pseudoephedrine, which is found in over the counter cough and cold medicines and the like. They (users) can get it in bulk," she said. "Without it, there’s no crystal meth." She added that the drug is super cheap to make.

Aspell said that when the drug is being made, for every kilogram that’s produced, there are five to seven kilos of toxic waste that needs to be disposed of.

"They’re digging holes in their back yard or dumping it in Provincial Park garbage containers or flushing it down the toilet," she said.

Users of crystal meth ingest the drug by snorting, smoking, taking it in pill form (not as effective), or by taking it intravenously.

Our anonymous recovering user began using due to serious personal problems and to help him get through work and school. He said the drug’s high causes elevated mood and awareness, an adrenaline-rush, keeps the user awake for long periods of time (depending on the amount) and diminishes their appetite.

"It’s a drug you can conceal and hide from people."

It was an overdose that woke him up and convinced him to get clean. He said that if you know friends or family who are using, get them immediate help—"addicts will always deny they have a problem"—do whatever you can to open their eyes or they’re going to end up in a box, six-feet under.

"That’s where it’s all going to lead to," he said. "They’ve got to get help or that person will end up dying of a heart attack, starving to death, committing suicide, experiencing psychotic episodes, or hurting loved ones emotional and maybe physically," he said.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, email Desert Sun Counselling at dsun@vip.net, attn: Tamara Aspell.

Basso added that the project is only short term and it’s a one-time grant.

"And then it’s the task force’s responsibility to carry it out on their own. That’s why we need to establish a committed group of interested parties and key people from each organization," she said. "But hopefully next year, they’ll be another grant available."

South Okanagan temperatures soar, break records

South Okanagan weather broke a few records this weekend, said Terri Lang, a warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada.

"Certainly through most of the Southern Interior, most of the expected highs were met," Lang said. "Osoyoos did break a record."

Environment Canada does not have a weather station in Oliver, but monitors Osoyoos and Penticton.

On Saturday, July 22 – even though it was cloudy – Osoyoos reached a high of 39.1 C (102.4 F). That breaks a record for that day, which was set in 1994, of 38.9 C (102.0 F).

Penticton also broke a record that day, reaching a high of 37.1 C (98.8 F), which broke a 1978 record of 36.8 C (98.2 F) reached on that day in 1978.

Lang said on Sunday, Osoyoos temperatures soared higher, reaching 40.2 C (104.4 F). That didn’t top the record for that day, which hit 42.6 C (108.7 F). The all-time hottest temperature recorded in Osoyoos was from July 27, 1998, when the heat topped out at 42.8 C (109.0 F).

Though Environment Canada doesn’t monitor Oliver weather, the Chronicle’s new weather station does. On Saturday, July 22, the temperature in Oliver reached 39.6 C (103.3 F), and on Sunday, it hit 41.4 C (106.5 F).

Lang said there were a few storms in the area. Keremeos reported 1 cm of hail. Winds in Kamloops reached 100 km per hour. There were intense lightning storms caused by the incredibly warm air, connecting with a bit of moisture from the southwest.

Oliver’s wind hit about 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, and was as high was 67.6 kph (42 mph).

The hot weather is expected to continue, said Lang. She expects temperatures to remain in the mid-30s through the week, with a chance of thundershowers. A big low-pressure system is expected near the weekend, meaning the temperature will likely drop and there is a good chance of precipitation.

Jeanne Rucker, fire information officer for the Kamloops fire centre said the hot, dry weather, combined with lightning storms that bring no rain, creates a high risk of forest fires. Over the weekend, there were between 300 and 400 recorded strikes in the whole fire centre region – but Oliver and Osoyoos got off lucky, with only about 15 to 20 strikes, none of which have amounted to anything of great concern.

Rucker said that hopefully predicted storms will bring rain as well, which helps to keep fires down.

Very dangerous stuff

The $10,000 received from the province towards a program to counter crystal meth can only help. Crystal meth is only one of a number of drugs that are available to people in our area. It has, however, the greatest potential for harm.

Addictive and destructive, it can do huge psychological and physical damage to the regular user and its additive qualities almost ensure that casual users are easily swept into the regular-user category.

There may be no single approach that will work with all potential victims of its addiction. The new program will help. What will also help is for everyone who is concerned with the problem to continue to repeat, as often as necessary, to our family and friends the dangers the substance holds for the unwary or foolish. This isn’t a situation where silence or turning a blind-eye is an appropriate response. If you see activity that appears to be trafficking, report it to the police. If you suspect a friend or family member is involved, seek professional help. Talk to your children openly about the seductive pleasures that many substances offer and the real dangers that their use can produce.

Money helps but it alone will not work unless the community participates in putting out a consistent message that crystal meth use is very dangerous.