Gursimran Singh was expected to return from a solo trip to the Twin Sister Mountain Range on June 28. The experienced hiker was instead found dead in the region after a two-week search.
34-year-old Gursimran Singh was an experienced hiker known for week-long adventures in the mountains
Shelley Joyce · CBC News
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A Kamloops hiker missing for two weeks has been found dead in Washington state.
Gursimran Singh, 34, was expected to return from a solo trip to the Twin Sister mountain range in Whatcom County on June 28.
Kamloops RCMP were notified by the man's family when he didn't show up, and they contacted the Whatcom County Sheriff's office for assistance.
A number of search and rescue teams conducted ground and aerial searches over a two-week period.
Deb Slater with the Whatcom County Sheriff's office says that the body was recovered July 12 on the north face of the south twin.
A hiker found the missing man and notified authorities.
"The recovery was especially difficult. We want to thank the Snohomish Country helicopter rescue team for helping us with that and allowing the family to have some closure," said Slater.
Slater described Singh as an experienced hiker who was known to go into the mountains for weeks at at a time.
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Jason Martin has hiked in the area and said the terrain where Singh went missing was on a steep descending snow slope that had a big crack in it.
"It's assumed that he slipped or fell at some point and went into the hole," said Martin, a mountain guide, rescue volunteer and director of the American Alpine Institute.
Anytime people go outdoors for an "adventure," he said, they're taking a risk.
"Unfortuately sometimes there are accidents. That can happen in any wilderness setting. It's just so unfortunate that this happened to such a young vibrant guy."
He said climbers or hikers who choose to travel alone in the wilderness should consider a satellite messaging system with a "breadcrumb feature" so loved ones can track a mountaineer on their journey, making searches less labour intensive.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shelley Joyce is a broadcast journalist based in Kamloops, B.C. She is the host of the CBC Radio morning show Daybreak Kamloops.
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