After a nine-hour search and rescue mission, a 33-year-old man from the Hinton area was found safe on Tuesday afternoon near Fiddle Pass.

Steve Blake, manager of public safety for Jasper National Park, said the man’s friends were relieved and grateful after a joint effort between Parks Canada and Provincial park rangers found him just one kilometre from where he had last been seen.

The search began Tuesday morning after a 911 call reported a missing man at 3 a.m. after he failed to meet his friends at their final destination.

The trio of men had begun their biking adventure at Cadomin around 9 a.m. and were headed to Miette Hot Springs.

Due to their varying degrees of skill level, the three friends would split up along the trail with the leader, and most experienced, waiting at significant places such as campgrounds or creek crossings explained Blake.

Heading along a trail used primarily by horses, the front pair reached Fiddle Pass about 6 p.m. where they stopped to regroup again.

“They waited for quite awhile and the third didn’t show up,” he said.

“They were starting to get cold, so they thought it’s reasonably close - maybe another hour or so to get to the vehicle, so we’ll go and wait at the vehicle at least then we’re not all frozen.”

As the darkness fell over the park, the pair called 911 about 3 a.m. which resulted in Blake and his crew beginning a search around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

When a search is involved, there is a lot of behind the scenes thought and planning, said Blake.

“We have an incident command room that we use, so we pull out the maps, tape them to the table, cover them in plastic so you can draw freely on them – this is where he was last seen, this is where he intended to go.”

For Blake and his crew, this particular man was an interesting case. “This guy was mountain biking, but was described as a hunter in terms of his back country experience and the way they behave is quite different,” he said.

“Hunters are self-reliant. They’ll get out at all costs kind of thing, but bikers do something completely different. So, it was an interesting merger of the two user types.”

Eight people were involved during the search, five were pulled to conduct the search – with an initial search by helicopter from Hinton.

Another person began a sweep of the trail from the Jasper National Park end, while two rangers from the provincial parks rode horses along the trail from the Cadomin side, he explained.

While Phase two of the search was being planned, the man was found just before 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

“When we caught up with him he was right where he was last seen,” said Blake.

“He had travelled approximately 20 kilometres from when he was last seen but he was found one kilometre from where he was last seen,” he continued. “He had gone up to Fiddle Pass and we assume he knew where his truck is – which is where he started – so he decided at that point to head back to his vehicle.”

The man, who’s identity was not released, was wearing camouflage pants and a brown shirt which is less than ideal for searching, said Blake.