2 climbers rescued from B.C. avalanche after placing call to Poland for help

B.C. emergency dispatchers were surprised to get a call from the Polish Embassy in Ottawa, urging them to send rescuers to a mountain in the B.C. Rockies where two climbers had been caught in an avalanche.

Robson Valley Search and Rescue manager Dale Mason says the pair were climbing WhitehornMountain, near Mt. Robson, on Monday morningwhen they were hit by a wall of snow.

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"They tumbled quite a ways down the mountain in the deposit. They ended up on the top of it, and they were able to call for help," he said.

But the survivors didn't call within B.C. or even Canada. The Polish mountaineers used their satellite phone to call someone in their home country.

B.C. Emergency Health Services communications officer Shannon Miller said she can only guess why.

"They were probably in shock and so they just hit the phone anddialledPoland," she said.

Polish Embassy kept informed

The call was routed through the Polish Embassy in Canada, and then to B.C. before BCEHScould send an air ambulance and the Robson Valley SARteam could help rescue the pair from steepterrain.

"That we have a provincial service was key to getting all thequick coordination of our dispatch," said Miller, who adds that the Polish Embassy was kept informed throughout the rescue.

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The climbers, whose names have not been released,were flownto Royal Inland Hospital inKamloopswith serious injuries.