NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, February 4, 2010

INCIDENTS

Mt. Rainier NP

Skier Rescued From Snow Cavern In Avalanche Area

On Sunday, January 31st, ranger Dan Van Der Elst responded to a visitor report of a woman who had fallen into a "hole" in the snow while skiing. Van Der Elst followed the reporting party to a moat beneath a short waterfall in a avalanche-prone snow gulley about three-quarters of a mile from Paradise. After an initial size up, he called for resources and assistance. Ranger Stefan Lofgren responded on skis with a hasty lower and raise kit. Due to the unknown condition of the woman and the avalanche danger, Lofgren quickly rappelled down the 20 feet into the moat through the waterfall she had fallen through. He made a quick medical assessment and rigged her up for a raise. Within 10 minutes, she was hauled back to the surface through the waterfall. A team of six other rangers arrived on scene as she was being pulled to the surface; they helped pull Lofgren out, walked the woman to Paradise, and packed out the rest of the gear. She suffered no traumatic physical injuries. [R. Chuck Young, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Due to technical problems with InsideNPS, no edition has been posted today. Should be back on line tomorrow.

To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):

NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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