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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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For future reference, the sheriff owns search and rescue...at least in my neck of the woods even on USFS lands....They have access to all the SAR resources in a region, who is qualified to do what work, getting helicpoters, ......
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micronut
Trad climber
fresno, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 7, 2010 - 04:14pm PT
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The latest word is that they are coming out on the bird. They were pretty deep and pretty hungry. Musta been ugly out there. Like I said, these are pretty hard guys. I'll share what I learn only after I talk to them personally. Thanks for the well wishes.
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micronut
Trad climber
fresno, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 7, 2010 - 04:16pm PT
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No Pete, three guys.
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Gene
Social climber
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Micronut,
I trust you have word that they are in good condition with no injuries?
Props to the folks who found them and those on stand by.
g
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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It is always great to hear a story like this end for the best. I hope they will be left with nothing more permanent than memories.
Props to all who were involved in the rescue, as well as those who were only able to send prayers and well wishes.
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corniss chopper
Mountain climber
san jose, ca
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Hope they were still making an effort to complete the route even in
hopeless snow conditions. 1/2mph still gets it done, although slowly.
The place names of the Sierra high route hold a lot of magic for
those who've ski'd it.
Tableland
Fin Pass (arguing who's going over 1st)( I went 1st last year dickweed!)
Deadman Canyon
Cloud Canyon
Lion Lake pass (not)
Triple Divide pass
Milestone Pass
Kern headwaters
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Thanks for the info. Glad they're ok. Hope they have a fun time flying out.
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micronut
Trad climber
fresno, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 7, 2010 - 04:31pm PT
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For sure. These guys would have done all they absolutely could not to call in the cavalry. They had no contact methods, concerned friends, alpinists all, made the call to send somebody in. They are not lightweights and they have a big respect for going hard and self reliant. Like I said, I'll wait till I talk to them personally before sharing much.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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sorry to hear they couldn't finish their trip, but good to hear they are alive and kicking.
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corniss chopper
Mountain climber
san jose, ca
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todays sat image. Good clear weather for SAR.
3 guys skiing would be leaving a very deep track behind them.
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L
climber
Training for the Blue Tape Route on Half Dome
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So happy to hear they're OK...for a change.
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kelly slater
climber
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did they take the chopper out just to get awesome views of the sierras or are they not really that hard?
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snaps10
Mountain climber
Visalia, CA
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Seamstress,
Sheriff doesn't own SAR in a National Park.
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Good to know - in OR & WA, sheriff is the IC and has authority even on USFS lands - Hood, Adams, St. Helens, anything in Deschuttes, Gifford. Don't know the NP regs. All missions get assigned numbers out of the state office. Office of Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security maintain lists of resources (SAR teams, MRA teams, dogs, horses, helicopters, swift water, ...)and their capability....
Always like to see the guys that can get in the resources notified early cause they have a rigamarole to go through to line-up the resources. As one who receives call-outs, time passes from when an overdue is reported to when the IC determines a response is required and sends out the pages. At times, you hear a call is coming and get a jump - even have the SAR/MRA team leader politely consult about a potential call out while we are gulping coffee, checking the backpacks, fueling the rigs.
Generally these incidents don't work like urban 911 calls where someone jumps into a rig seconds after a call that has been automatically routed through dispatch, screening medical/fire/law enforcement.
This may not be the right thread to poke fun about a helicopter ride. I don't know how much new snow you folks have had, but we had over five feet in the last week with two windstorms that got people's attention. The friends and family of these people may be looking at the posts here.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Great news.
But why is the chopper bringing them out?
That doesn't sound so good.
Please keep us posted
In the "storm of the century" we got avalanched just below east side of Shepherd Pass many moons ago. Our camp was destroyed and quite a bit of gear was lost. We were able to retreat on our own.
I've always thought if we'd been over Shepherd Pass when the storm hit we'd have been pinned down by the storm and out of food/fuel needing a rescue by the time it cleared.
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charley
Trad climber
nw pa.
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great news.
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cleo
Social climber
Berkeley, CA
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The news, not much information.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/04/07/1888323/three-skiers-rescued-from-high.html#storylink=omni_popular
Ugh... I am supposed to be doing that route soon with a bunch of people, and one of the people in the group was Tom Bennett who passed away on Shasta. Not feeling good at all about it...
But anyway, I'm very glad to hear that they were rescued and are not still missing. I bet they have quite the story. I remember 5 of us tried to ski thru 4' of new snow in the Buttermilks several years ago, and we gave up after about 300 meters and built a snow cave (for play) instead. It must have been ridiculous trying to navigate, make distance, and avoid avalanches up there.
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Footloose
Trad climber
Lake Tahoe
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I'd like to hear if any of them were packing
snowshoes.
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Snowshoes aren't the answer to all deep snow. I'm pretty light. If the snow is light and bottomless, you sink and tunnel. I remember my first winter ascent of Mt. Washington going up Lion's Head, sinking three feet or more each step. After 8 hours of battling, we gave up and glissading back dow to firm snow in barely 8 minutes. Mountains can make you flounder no matter what tool you use at times.
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jstan
climber
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I got hit with five feet of fresh powder on the Great Range Trail in the Adirondaks once. Bearpaws are essential on a slope. Luckily I ran into three others but it still took us a full day to get out five miles to the Garden.
On a side note. Half the people living in California are wont to rhapsodize on how great Minnesota is.
Mea Culpa!
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