Over 60 Rescued in Dramatic Helicopter Operation After Flooding Strands Campers in Bugaboo Provincial Park

Bugaboo Provincial Park, British Columbia (Rajeev Sharma) — More than 60 hikers and campers were dramatically airlifted to safety on Sunday after sudden flooding stranded them in the popular Bugaboo Provincial Park in the East Kootenay region.

According to Columbia Valley Search and Rescue, the emergency began around 8 a.m. local time on August 17, when the Alpine Club of Canada reported unusually high creek levels near the Conrad Kain Hut, a well-known mountaineering base in the park. When rescuers arrived, they found the creek running fast, swollen with dirty water, and posing a serious threat to those attempting to trek out.

“It’s quite fortunate that the logging road was not compromised by this higher water,” said rescue team member Jordy Shepherd, noting that a washout could have left vehicles stranded as well.

Rescuers quickly set up a staging area and began helicopter evacuations. Over the course of 10 trips, all stranded visitors — ranging from 10 years old to about 70 — were safely flown out to the trailhead, where they could retrieve their vehicles. “It took about seven hours total from when we were called to when we had everybody out,” Shepherd said, adding that crews also made a separate flight to evacuate a nearby remote campground.

The flooding was caused by a tarn a mountain lake in the park  that unexpectedly cut a deep channel through glacier ice, redirecting its flow. “The upper tarn, below Bugaboo and Crescent Spires, had cut a deep channel through the glacier ice that has historically held it back,” Shepherd explained. “So the tarn was actually flowing out the opposite side that it normally flows out.”

Shepherd praised the volunteer rescuers for their swift response, emphasizing that without the helicopter operation, campers might have been forced to spend the night in unsafe conditions or attempt dangerous crossings on their own.

Bugaboo Provincial Park, known for its rugged climbing routes and stunning alpine scenery, now has much of its core area closed indefinitely as BC Parks staff assess the damage caused by the flooding.