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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Monday, May 21, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Canyonlands NP Stranded Hikers Rescued From Buck Mesa Park maintenance worker Jack Foy was working in Taylor Canyon late on the morning of April 30th when he heard cries for help coming from the top of Buck Mesa, which lies south of the canyon. Foy determined that someone was rim-rocked approximately 100 feet below the top of the mesa and about 600 feet above the canyon floor. He could also see another person on top of the mesa. Foy radioed this information to Island in the Sky ranger Joe Carlson. River rangers Steve Young and Kyler Carpenter and 30 guides employed by park concessioners happened to be on the Green River near Taylor Canyon, having just begun the annual interpretive river trip. Young and Carpenter put ashore near the Labyrinth campsite on the White Rim Road and were met by ranger Cherie Barth, who transported them to Taylor Canyon. Coincidentally, a helicopter being used by a film crew to produce a PBS documentary about the history of the NPS happened to be at the Moab airport. The helicopter flew Young, Carpenter, Arches National Park rangers Jacob Tung and Will See and two river guides who had technical rock climbing experience to the top of the mesa. Carpenter then rappelled down the cliff to the victim. A technical raising was performed and all personnel were flown off the mesa top by 6 p.m. Rangers learned that the two visitors had begun a day hike of the Syncline Loop trail at Upheaval Dome on Saturday, April 29th. Hiking in a clockwise direction, they lost the trail in the area called the "Steps" and wandered in a northerly direction, eventually ending up on the top of Buck Mesa. They told rangers that they realized they were lost, but were unable to retrace their steps back to the Syncline Loop trail. They spent Saturday and Sunday nights on top of Buck Mesa. On Monday, they ran out of water and said that they thought they were going to die. They threw their backpacks and digital cameras off Buck Mesa and decided to try and climb down into Taylor Canyon. With air temperatures in the 90's and their lack of water, it was unlikely they would have survived another day. The two river guides who participated in this rescue were Jason Quinn of Holiday River Expeditions and Dustin Fallentine of Moki Mac River Expeditions. John Shaffer with the Moab BLM Fire Operations Center was the helicopter manager. Paul Cowan was the IC. [Paul Cowan, Chief Ranger, Arches and Canyonlands National Parks] Denali NP&P Two Climbers Killed In Fall On Mt. McKinley Two climbers died in a 1900-foot fall during a descent of Mt. McKinley on the evening of Thursday, May 17th. M.T., 36, of Lake Forest Park, Washington, was pronounced dead shortly after the fall. Her partner, 27-year-old B.M. from North Bend, Washington, remained unconscious throughout the night and succumbed to his injuries Friday morning. M.T. and B.M. had left the 14,200-foot camp on Tuesday morning for an ascent of the Upper West Rib route of Mt. McKinley. A third team member stayed behind at the 14,200-foot camp. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening, a mountaineering ranger patrol staged at the mountain's 17,200-foot High Camp witnessed the fall, which began from an elevation just below 19,000-feet near the Messner Couloir. The roped pair fell to a point just below High Camp. A hasty team comprised of members of the ranger patrol and two climbing guides traversed to the team and confirmed that M.T. had died. The rescue team performed an initial assessment of B.M., who was immediately carried back to the ranger tent for emergency medical treatment for severe injuries. B.M. never regained consciousness, though, and he died Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. The bodies were recovered from High Camp on Saturday morning after winds subsided in the area. [Maureen McLaughlin and Kris Fister, Public Affairs Officers] Denali NP&P Two Climbers Die In Avalanche On Mt. Barrille An avalanche in Ruth Gorge on Mt. Barrille killed two climbers attempting the Japanese Couloir route on the peak's east face last week. The climbers - 33-year-old A.C. of Salt Lake City and 32-year-old B.P. of Park City, Utah - were seen beginning the 10- to 15-hour climb around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15th. On Thursday afternoon, members of another climbing party notified a ranger patrol in the Ruth Gorge that the two climbers were overdue and that their skis were still sitting at the base of Mt. Barrille. Whiteout conditions on Thursday evening and most of Friday precluded a surveillance flight or a ground-based investigation. When skies cleared Friday evening, an NPS-contracted Lama helicopter flew to the peak. At approximately 9:30 p.m., two rangers on board the helicopter spotted climber tracks leading into an area where a slab avalanche had released from a shallow gully near the summit ridge. Following the fall line down, rangers saw what appeared to be two figures in avalanche debris at the base of peak. Due to flat light and decreasing visibility, the Lama and crew returned to Talkeetna. On Saturday, the Lama helicopter returned to the debris area with two mountaineering rangers. The climbers' identities were confirmed and their bodies and gear were flown from the accident site back to Talkeetna. Mt. Barrille, at 7,650-feet, is one of the more frequently climbed peaks in the Ruth Gorge, with multiple routes ranging in technical difficulty. The Japanese Couloir is a moderate, Alaska grade III route featuring steep snow and ice. [Maureen McLaughlin and Kris Fister, Public Affairs Officers] OTHER NEWS The following stories can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites appear below: Acadia NP - The park hosted a "No Child Left Inside" conference on May 3rd and 4th to discuss what author Richard Louv calls the "nature deficit disorder" prevalent among many children. Thomas Stone NHS - On May 5th, park staff joined local constituents to participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of two new park visitor facilities. Grand Canyon NP - Ranger Ronnie Gibson is retiring at the beginning of June after 27 years as an NPS law enforcement ranger. He has been at the Grand Canyon since 1986. To see the above articles, go to InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) or NPS Digest ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). For NPS incident reporting standards, go to HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363 * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |