Along with 3 friends ( from Dec. 27, 2000 - Jan. 21, 2001 ) I went to Tanzania, Africa specifically to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and then relax on the beaches of Zanzibar for a week and then finish the trip with a safari to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti.

Coquitlam Search and Rescue uses helicopters when necessary to transport team members, equipment and subjects to and from the field when the time needed to walk or use other methods of transportation are longer than an hour. In the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, the use of helicopters is hampered by the forest cover, and the height of the trees. We have several techniques for using helicopters in this terrain.

Winter recreation is increasing in popularity, and every year people more expose themselves to the hazard of being caught, injured and perhaps killed in an avalanche. But is there anything you can do about it? Well, contrary to some opinions, avalanches are NOT random, in fact over 90% if injuries and deaths from avalanches are caused by the people who are hurt by them.

Before you head into the backcountry this winter, you need to know what you can do to protect yourself.

One of the most important things you can do to reduce your risk if you get lost is to tell someone where you are going, and when you are planning to return.

The hardest searches that SAR has to do start with a person reported missing many hours after they were due home, and no knowledge of the exact route, direction or location that the person was going to. When this happens, we try to narrow down the area to search, but the task starts off with significant problems.