Search and Rescue
If you need to initiate a search and rescue operation for any reason within the Yukon please contact your nearest R.C.M.P. detachment. They will have up-to-date information on how to best initiate a search in your area. Contact information for each detachment can be found at https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/detach/en/find/YT.
The Klondike Snowmobile Association does not offer any professional search and rescue services. However, we are happy to help out where we can, so if you feel that some experienced local snowmobilers may be a helpful addition to a professional operation please contact us and we’ll do our best to assist.
If someone has left a trip plan with you and they have not checked in on time:
1: Stay calm. In the vast majority of cases it turns out the missing party is actually perfectly fine and just got stuck in the snow or are dealing with a mechanical breakdown.
2: Try to get in contact with them.
3: Try contacting anyone who may have seen them since they left.
4: If contact can’t be established within a reasonable period of time then contact your nearest R.C.M.P. detachment for assistance. This 24/7/365 service is free for all Yukoners and there is no minimum time for them to be missing.
If you are in a group needing rescue:
1: Take a moment to assess the situation. As they say, always put your own mask on first before assisting other people.
2: Begin providing first aid as needed. If you have any extra people consider delegating either the first aid management or search and rescue arrangements to one of them.
3: The person calling for a search and rescue should first gather some information that search and rescuers will need. Before they can come to you they will need to know where to go and what to bring, so please have the following information ready:
– Your location. If you know your location be as accurate as you can, if you are lost then do your best to describe the area and how you got there.
– Nature of your emergency. What happened and how did it happen.
– How many people are in your group and how many of those will need to be rescued.
– If anyone is hurt take notes of how many are injured, the types of injuries, and any first aid already being provided.
– What equipment and supplies you have with you.
– What assistance you will need.
4: To initiate a rescue operation for fastest response contact your nearest R.C.M.P. detachment if able. The next best option is to contact someone at home and have them contact the nearest R.C.M.P. detachment for you. If you are unable to do either of those then press the SOS button on your satellite device. If all of those fail then stay calm knowing the person you left a trip plan with should be starting a search when you don’t return on time.
5: While you wait for rescue consider starting a fire, constructing some shelter, making your site more visible from a distance, and making a safe space for the rescuers to arrive and work in.
6. If time allows, start planning for what to do after the rescue. In some cases not everyone in your group and not all of your sleds and equipment will travel out with the rescue team, so consider how to get the rest home and what you may need for that journey.