Multiple Weekend Rescues

Yosemite National Park (CA)
Multiple Weekend Rescues

On the weekend of September 30th, park staff managed five significant SAR incidents while also dealing with a major search and the onset of the area’s first winter storm. Together, these incidents were triple the normal SAR case load for this time of year. The park combined most of the rescues under one command structure, with a single incident command staff responsible for triaging all developing rescue incidents and allocating assets as appropriate:

Tamarack Flats Campground – On Saturday, Mather District rangers took a missing persons report for Stiles Cummings, 26, who’d last been seen on Friday when he’d walked barefoot out of the Tamarack campground. The district began a major search for him on Sunday, drawing a large number of searchers from around the park. The operation was eventually scaled back to a limited continuous search.

Cathedral Peak, Tuolumne Meadows – Just after midnight on Saturday morning, Tuolumne rangers were alerted to a seriously injured climber who’d taken a 40-foot roped climbing fall. Tuolumne SAR staff worked through the night to find and begin treating him. The helicopter and medical personnel committed to the Cummings search were diverted to this incident. Due to the severity of his injuries, the climber was flown from the Cathedral Peak area directly to Mammoth Lakes Hospital.

Zodiac Route, El Capitan, Yosemite Valley – Park dispatch received a 911 transfer call from CHP on Saturday afternoon, reporting a request for the rescue of a climbing team on the Zodiac Route on El Capitan. The Korean climbers on the wall spoke no English, and a Korean climber/interpreter who was assisting SAR personnel spoke only limited English. Clarifying the situation was accordingly difficult, but it was eventually determined that the climbers wanted to be rescued simply because their haul bag rope was tangled and they couldn’t figure out a means to correct the problem. Following a careful evaluation of the situation, SAR staff declined to launch a rescue at that time. Cold, rainy weather engulfed El Capitan the next morning, though, raising the concerns of SAR personnel. Due to the team’s obvious inexperience and the ongoing poor weather, SAR staff continued to monitor the progress of this team until they completed the route three days later.

Cables Route, Half Dome, Yosemite Valley – On Sunday, the park received several 911 cell phone transfers regarding a person who’d slipped outside the cables on Half Dome and slid 100 to 150 feet down onto the blank face. He was lying precariously on the face, using only the friction of his body against the rock to stop him from falling more than 800 feet to the ground. A ranger and a SAR climbing team were immediately dispatched to the incident location. The Yosemite rescue/fire helicopter was unavailable, so a primary rescue team was put on standby to await the arrival of another helicopter to fly them to the shoulder of Half Dome. A helicopter from Sequoia/Kings Canyon responded to the request for mutual aid assistance and was the first available for the mission. Unfortunately, due to the time it took to free up a helicopter, more than two hours passed before technical rescuers were on scene. SAR technicians then repelled down to the man and rescued him. Although uninjured, he was treated for hypothermia at Yosemite Medical Center and later released.

Union Point, Four Mile Trail, Yosemite Valley – At almost the same time as the Half Dome SAR was being reported, dispatch received another SAR request from a visitor who’s lost the trail and become ledged out and stranded above the switchbacks of Four Mile trail. He was unable to move from his location due to the steep cliffs below and the dense brush above. The helicopter from Sequoia/Kings Canyon inserted a rescuer at the hiker’s location. Together with other technical SAR staff, they were able to extricate him from his location.

Upper Yosemite Falls Trail, Yosemite Valley – On Sunday afternoon, dispatch received a SAR request for assistance from a woman with a lower leg injury. An EMS/carryout team was formed from staff who’d previously been assigned to other incidents. Her injuries mandated a litter evacuation to the trailhead. She was then taken to the Yosemite Medical Clinic.
[Submitted by David Pope, Keith Lober, Yosemite Search and Rescue]