An avalanche at the three-quarter mark of the popular Grouse Grind trail around 10 a.m. this morning has search and rescue crews searching for any possible hard-core hikers caught up in the debris.

The trail is closed for the winter, but that doesn’t stop people from doing the challenging hike and North Shore Search and Rescue crews have already investigated two unfounded distress calls, said spokesman Tim Jones.

A helicopter and 12-person SAR ground crew is now searching the area for possible victims, starting from the top of the mountain and working their way down Jones said.

People should not hike the trail during the winter Jones cautioned.

“There’s other alternative areas,” Jones said. “Grouse Mountain has a snowshoe grind in their own snowshoe park and if people want to get that exercise they should go up there in that well-managed area.”

An RCMP avalanche dog team is en route Jones added.

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