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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Wednesday, November 21, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS New River Gorge NR Injured Climber Rescued From Endless Wall On Monday, November 12th, rangers and Fayette County Emergency Services personnel rescued a climber who'd fallen at the Endless Wall climbing area. Rangers Randy Fisher and Karl Keach, working with only a general description of the location of the accident received through a 911 call, searched for and found the caller, who led them to the scene. Keach coordinated the rescue from the top of the cliff while Fisher employed a series of ladders and ropes to reach the injured climber, who'd suffered numerous fractures and lacerations. An 80-foot litter raise was conducted to bring him to the top of the cliff. He was then wheeled out on a litter and flown to the Charleston area trauma center. An investigation revealed that he'd removed his gear from the second bolt and was attempting to down climb when he fell about 20 feet on the 5.9-rated “Nasty Groove” climbing route. This was the fourth time a climber has fallen this year - a significant increase in climbing-related incidents. The causes included bad belays, traditional gear pulling from the rock, and poor climbing decisions. New River Gorge is a world-class climbing destination, with 1600 traditional and sport routes. It has miles of high-quality sandstone cliffs with an extraordinary diversity of climbing routes. [Gary Hartley, Chief Ranger] Colorado NM Weekend Marked By Three Significant Incidents Park staff dealt with three significant incidents on the weekend of November 16th through November 18th: On Friday, rangers and Mesa County technical SAR team personnel rescued two brothers from Independence Monument. The brothers, ages 24 and 29, climbed the five-pitch, 5.9-graded “Otto's Route” late that afternoon and were in the process of rappelling down when one of them ran into a knot and got stuck on his second rappel about 60 feet above the ground. He had a cell phone with him, though, and was able to call 911. Two members of the SAR team reached the brothers around 9 p.m. They performed a technical pickoff on the younger brother and belayed the older brother, who was stuck on the second pitch. Both brothers were able to hike out on their own. On Saturday morning, rangers dealt with a suicide at Cold Shivers Point. A 63-year-old man from Grand Junction shot himself with a .22 caliber handgun. On Sunday afternoon, a 72-year-old park volunteer died of a heart attack while hiking the Monument Canyon trail near Independence Monument. Three hikers performed CPR and called 911. A ranger and area firefighters hiked two miles to the scene, arriving about 45 minutes later. Efforts to resuscitate him were not successful. [Phil Akers, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS (internal) or NPS Digest (external): Central High School NHS - At its annual awards dinner on November 9th, the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas presented the park with an award for "Outstanding New Construction in a Historic Setting HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=5994" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=5994 US Park Police - Sergeant Pilot Ron Galey will be retiring from the U.S. Park Police on November 24th after more than 34 years of distinguished service. He has been with the Aviation Unit almost as long as it's been in existence - he has flown every helicopter the unit has operated and with every pilot assigned to the unit. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1750" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1750 Pictured Rocks NL - Larry Hach, chief ranger at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, will retire on January 3rd after a 35-year career that has taken him to six National Park Service areas. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1749" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1749 * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-686-3828). --- ### --- |