NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

BLACKBERRY EDITION

Thursday, September 14, 2006

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INCIDENTS

Yosemite NP

Ranger Assaulted At Hetch Hetchy

On Sunday, September 3rd, ranger Jason Terlano saw a man coming out of the wilderness area at Hetch Hetchy on a bicycle. Terlano attempted to stop him, but the man was uncooperative and rode away. Terlano pursued him down a dead end road below O'Shaughnessy Dam and again contacted him. The man then assaulted Terlano and fled on foot. Terlano continued the chase until his assailant jumped into the Tuolumne River, swam to the other side, and disappeared into the brush. Rangers from the Mather District and the park's special response team responded and began an unsuccessful search for the man. Later that evening, a Hetch Hetchy entrance station employee attending the Strawberry Music Festival at Camp Mather saw a man who fit his description and notified festival security staff. They in turn notified rangers. Terlano and special agents Jeff Sullivan and Steve Yu went to the festival, where Terlano positively identified his assailant, a stagehand at the festival. The man was taken into custody and charged with felony assault on a federal officer. He subsequently confessed to the assault. [Dave Lattimore, Mather District Ranger]

Yosemite NP

Short Haul Rescue From Mount Ritter

On Friday, September 7th, the park received a mutual aid request from Mono County SAR for assistance in rescuing a stranded climbing party on Mount Ritter, a few miles southeast of the park. On Thursday, five men between the ages of 15 and 21 reached the summit of the mountain (13,157 feet) without resorting to technical climbing. While descending, though, they were hit by a storm with sleet and snow. They became disoriented and down-climbed off-route into highly technical terrain. Without technical gear and with inadequate clothing, they were forced to huddle together at about 12,500 feet through the night. Eventually they called the Mono County Sheriff's Office by cell phone, and the county contacted the park. A rescue team comprised of Yosemite helitack crew members Eric Small, Nick Fowler and John DeMay, Valley District ranger Jack Hoeflich, and Mather District rangers Eric Gabriel and Jason Ramsdell flew to the area in the park helicopter, piloted by Dave Boden. The stranded climbers were spotted from the air on the north face of the peak in fifth class terrain. Rescuers were shorthauled under the helicopter onto the wall and the stranded party rigged for evacuation. In three separate evolutions, all of the climbers and rescuers were safely short-hauled off the peak to a meadow at the base of the mountain. The climbers were wet, cold and dehydrated, but were able to walk back to their campsite. However, given the weather, temperatures, and lack of warm clothing, the outcome could have been more serious had they been forced to spend another night on the wall. [Jason Ramsdell, Mather District SAR Coordinator]

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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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