There are new, locally made, maps available for hikers of the Golden Ears Provincial Park, and Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue are hoping the public will use them.
Rick Laing, RMSAR manager, said they are a valuable resource after a summer where poor maps found online left hikers stranded, and in need of helicopter rescue from the park.
Laing explained these new maps have all been created using GPS data gathered by members of the team while they are out hiking the trails.
https://www.facebook.com/RMSAR/posts/5412314495461069
A member of Coquitlam Search and Rescue took the data and has created what Laing describes as excellent working maps of verified trails. They are waterproof and durable, used by Search and Rescue teams during their operations, and come highly recommended.
In October, the search team warned the public that an online map of Golden Ears Mountain, which showed a Golden Ears-Blanshard Needle Traverse, had led hikers into terrain that only an experienced climber with ropes would be able to get out of safely. Laing said maps from collaborative mapping sites were creating a problem.
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The new maps are a good solution.
“It’s something all of our team members are carrying, and hopefully the public will too,” said Laing. “And you never run out of batteries with a map.”
ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
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