Revelstoke RCMP had a busy first week of March, handling an out-of-town drug confiscation and downtown tussle with a runaway.

Meanwhile, the city's search and rescue lead is encouraging skiers and snowboarders to assess their preparedness before visiting the backcountry, after rescuing two on Mount Mackenzie.

Officers seized more than 300 grams of drugs "believed to be illicit" from a Castlegar man March 3, according to Staff Sergeant Chris Dodds, the day after they stopped his vehicle at the Shelter Bay Ferry Terminal for an impaired-driving check. The man was suspended from driving for 24 hours, with his vehicle impounded. A Criminal Code investigation is underway and charges are pending.

On March 6, RCMP was informed around 6:30 p.m. that two snowboarders had disappeared out of bounds from Revelstoke Mountain Resort. Officers summoned Revelstoke Search and Rescue, who couldn't perform a helicopter pick-up due to darkness already falling but managed to carry out a walk-in rescue north of the Greely Bowl.

The snowboarders were found cold and wet but uninjured. Search and rescue manager Ren Bessette told Black Press Media they came unprepared, without emergency or avalanche rescue equipment.

"A lot of folks will drop off too low at the Greely valley," she said, adding that recreationists visiting Revelstoke who don't know the resort or backcountry well should take extra care to "understand the knowledge and extent of your experience."

Skiers and snowboarders can avoid straying out of the resort's bounds by looking out for double bamboo rope lines and Avalanche Canada backcountry signs, Bessette said.

On March 7, a man driving into town from Kelowna fled on foot from Revelstoke RCMP during an impaired-driving stop in the city centre. When an officer caught up to the runner, a fight ensued, and the man dealt minor injuries to the officer before being arrested, according to Dodds. The man received an immediate 90-day driving prohibition and a 30-day vehicle impound charge.

Between March 3 and 9, officers responded to five assaults, five traffic collisions, three thefts, two driving complaints, two cases of mischief to property and one break-and-enter.

Back between Feb. 24 and March 2, RCMP logged six thefts, six traffic collisions, four driving complaints, two assaults, two impaired driving cases and one case of mischief to property.