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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Thursday, August 10, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs Climber Rescued From Giraud Peak J.L., 20, fell and was seriously injured while climbing 12,608-foot-high Giraud Peak on Monday, August 7th. She was member of an organized climbing group doing the Sierra Challenge, which is to climb ten peaks in ten days. According to other party members, she fell 30 feet, then tumbled down a 40 degree snow field for 150 feet, then tumbled another 150 feet down a talus slope. Members of her party climbed down to her location; one man was sent out to Bishop (12 miles away) to report the accident to the Inyo County Sheriffs Office. A cell phone call was also placed by a member of the party from a high location, providing a brief report and general location before the signal was lost. A rescue team comprised of ranger John Anderson, Sierra Crest subdistrict ranger Debbie Brenchley and helitack crew member Carrie Vernon flew to the location in a park helicopter. One member of the climbing team used a silver-colored blanket to signal the helicopter. The helicopter was able to land on the snow at 11,300 feet, just below the point where the woman was lying. The rescue team climbed up to J.L., assessed her condition, and packaged her in full c-spine protection for transport. She was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Her injuries included facial and head trauma - lacerations and fractures, two broken arms, and numerous other lacerations and contusions. J.L. was carried across the loose rock field to the snow field. She was belayed across a section of snow, then lowered down the snow slope to the helicopter. J.L. was flown to Bishop and transferred to Northern Inyo Hospital, where she is in serious but stable condition. [Alexandra Picavet, Public Affairs Specialist] Apostle Islands NL Kayakers Rescued From Rough Lake Waters On the afternoon of August 6th, a group of six young people, including a camp counselor and a guide from Chequamegon Adventure Company, departed the Little Sand Bay on Lake Superior by kayak. Both gale and small craft advisories were posted for the waters along the lake's western shoreline at the time. These warnings were ignored by the company's guide and led to a series of mishaps. While the guide and camp leader were attempting to assist a kayaker with a rudder problem, the group of kayakers became widely separated by waves ranging up to four feet or more in height. National Park Service and US Coast Guard personnel responded in their vessels to a marine radio report of two kayaks in distress just east of the park's mainland unit. They arrived on scene just as two people reached the shore after having capsized their kayaks. At about the same time, ranger Michael Larsen received a radio message from park employees stationed at Little Sand Bay who reported seeing what they thought was a kayak off York Island. They thought that it might be associated with the guided kayak group. Larsen diverted his boat from his original course and went to the aid of the distressed kayaker. He found an unresponsive young man draped over the side of his kayak. Working alone and under rolling high sea conditions, Larsen rescued the kayaker and transported him back to Little Sand Bay. There they met with Red Cliff Ambulance Service personnel, who treated the man for hypothermia. Due to the quick response and a cooperative rescue operation, all parties survived. Chequamegon Adventure Company is currently operating under a new NPS commercial use authorization. The park will conduct a review to determine whether conditions of the permit were met. The guide's decisions will be studied during a pending incident review. The findings may prove beneficial to both the park and commercial use operators in the future. [John Pavkovich, Supervisory Park Ranger] Yosemite NP Falling Fatality At Bridal Veil Falls On Thursday, August 3rd, Valley District rangers and SAR personnel responded to a report of a person who had fallen onto the boulders at the base of Bridal Veil Fall. The victim, a 17-year-old boy from Phoenix, Arizona, had been scrambling on the wet rocks when he slipped and fell about 30 feet, landing head first in the rocks below a smaller waterfall and suffering serious head trauma. The first ranger on scene, a park medic, provided advanced life support to the boy, who was still breathing. His pulse soon stopped, though, so the medic began CPR and conducted it with the assistance of bystanders and the arriving SAR team. The base hospital physician was contacted by radio and eventually ended the resuscitation efforts. The boy was evacuated from the area by belayed litter. [Leslie Reynolds, Acting Valley District Ranger] Devils Postpile NM Drowning In Pool At Rainbow Falls L.W., 42, a citizen of Ireland currently living in New York, drowned while swimming with friends in the pool at the base of Rainbow Falls on the afternoon of August 5th. Ranger received several reports about the incident and were soon at the scene. L.W. was spotted five to eight feet below the surface about 20 feet from shore in turbulent water. Due to the strong turbulence, a swiftwater rescue team had to be summoned. Personnel from the Inyo National Forest, Mono County Sheriff's Office and Mono County SAR responded and retrieved L.W. from the pool. He was pronounced dead at the scene. [Deanna Dulen] OTHER NEWS Other news of interest from today's edition of InsideNPS, which can be found at this address if your inside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) and at this address if you're outside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/). Note that not all articles that appear in the former make it into the latter: Statue of Liberty - Media story on decision to keep the crown closed on the statue, which is causing a furor among local NY politicians. * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |