CELPIP Listening Part 4 Practice Test: Lost Hiker Signals Helicopter With Pocket Mirror

MAN: A hiker who wandered off a marked trail in the North Cascades was located safely yesterday afternoon, after using a small mirror to catch the attention of a search-and-rescue helicopter. Ethan Cole, a 34-year-old technician from Bellingham, had set out Saturday morning for what he called a short day hike, but he missed a junction near Copper Ridge and kept walking for hours before realizing he was lost. With no cell signal and his phone battery nearly drained, Cole chose to conserve power rather than keep searching for a connection. Rescue coordinator Priya Nair said her team had already begun an aerial sweep of the valley when a crew member noticed an irregular flash coming from a clearing below. "It wasn't the light itself that caught our eye," Nair explained, "it was the fact that it kept repeating in short bursts, which told us someone was doing it deliberately." Cole later said he remembered a compact mirror, normally used for shaving, tucked in a side pocket of his pack, and he began angling it toward the aircraft whenever it passed overhead. Once the helicopter circled back, a winch operator was lowered to guide Cole toward a safer opening for pickup. Nair noted that although searchers carry thermal cameras for low-visibility conditions, a clear mirror signal in daylight is often spotted faster than heat imaging can identify a moving target. Cole was flown to a ranger station, treated for mild dehydration, and released within hours.