An injured hiker was rescued from a rocky cliff area west of Williams Lake on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
Central Cariboo Search and Rescue (CCSAR) and BC Emergency Health Services responded to the RIske Creek area call mid-morning, with mutual aid from Prince George Search and Rescue.
"Our team responded with a helicopter and then we had another team that had ATVs and then another team with our UTV - the side-by-side," said Deborah Bortolussi, media spokesperson for CCSAR.
Prince George SAR with its Class D Fixed Line team was called in because CCSAR was not sure if they would be able to get the injured hiker out of the area.
"We weren't sure if we would be able to hike them out or carry them out on a stretcher. We called in Prince George so we could utilize their long line team. They flew in with a helicopter as well."
Eight CCSAR members accessed the site.
They drove in as far as they could with the ATVs and UTV and then hiked approximately an hour and a half to reach the hiker.
Members were with the hiker by the time PGSAR arrive on scene.
"From there we assisted with the long line team to get the patient loaded up and then they long lined the patient out to where the ambulance was waiting."
A staging area had been set up on the Ilnicki Ranch nearby.
BCEHS then transported the patient to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake.
Bortolussi said the hiker and another hiker had gone into the area earlier in the morning.
During the hike the person slipped on a loose rock and sustained injuries to the lower body.
"Stable, but quite severe," she said of the injuries.
The second hiker then hiked out to the Ilnicki Ranch to put in a call for help.
Coincidentally, as Ilnicki Ranch is located directly above the Chilcotin River landslide, it was the site of another rescue on Wednesday, July 31, of an injured camper who was camping when the slide occurred.
Northwest of the ranch there is a popular hiking spot called Dante's Inferno.
Ken Ilnicki said where the hiker was injured was one kilometre before Dante's near a waterfall.
He said the hikers were a husband and wife and the wife walked down to their home to use the phone.
"We weren't home but she got a hold of my son and called 911 and got everything going," Ilnicki said. "I got home later when the helicopter got here from Prince George."
Inlicki said he recognized one of the PGSAR members.
"He was one of the professors that was down here looking at the landslide from the university."
It was the first time CCSAR has called in PGSAR's long line team, Bortolussi said.
"We have had helicopter teams come up from the south."
