NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

INCIDENTS

Yosemite NP

Three Die In Separate Incidents On Same Day

Yosemite rangers responded to three unrelated fatalities on Friday, May 13th:

K.B., 60, of Austin, Texas, was hiking on the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall late that morning when he slipped off the trail and slid down a slab into the Merced River, currently swollen with spring runoff. He was swept downstream several hundred feet and lodged, partially submerged, in the middle of the channel. K.B. showed no signs of life. His body was recovered on Saturday via a high line rigged across the river by rangers. This was a highly technical and dangerous rescue operation. The Mist Trail, the most popular in the park, was closed during the incident, but has since reopened.

During the above incident, park dispatch received a report of an unresponsive adult male on the Upper Yosemite Fall Trail. Witnesses said that J.D. of Berkeley, California, was running down the trail and suffered a head injury. Rangers administered life support but he was pronounced dead at the scene. He was evacuated via a wheeled litter.

A resident of Yosemite West, a small community adjacent to the park, died in his sleep due to medical complications. No further details are available.

Scott Jacobs and Jack Hoeflich served as incident commanders for the first two incidents. [Scott Gediman, Assistant Superintendent for Public & Legislative Affairs]

Denali NP&P

Italian Climber Dies In Fall From Denali Pass

Mountaineers at the 17,200-foot high camp on Mt. McKinley witnessed a climber falling from Denali Pass near 18,000 feet around 10 a.m. yesterday morning. NPS mountaineering ranger Matt Hendrickson and three patrol members responded and confirmed that L.C., 67, of Mandello, Italy, had died of traumatic injuries sustained in the 1,000-foot fall. At the time he fell, L.C. was beginning the traverse from Denali Pass to the 17,200-foot camp along a 45-degree slope of hard, windblown snowpack. He was travelling ahead of his two teammates and was unroped at the time of the fall. Weather at the time of the accident was clear, with relatively calm winds. This accident marks the second fatality near Denali Pass within the past week. On Thursday, May 12th, a Swiss climber was found dead at 18,000 feet. The cause of his death is not yet known, but appears not to have been caused by trauma. [Maureen McLaughlin, Public Information Officer]

Pinnacles NP

Three People Caught Breaking Into Ranger Residence

On Wednesday, May 11th, three people broke into an unoccupied park residence on the west side of the park. They'd left the Bear Gulch area “to see the caves” early in the afternoon, but, instead of heading towards the caves, they mistakenly hiked into the high peaks area of the park, then knowingly followed signs away from their vehicle because the trail led downhill and they would otherwise have had to walk some uphill sections to get back to their vehicle. The trio arrived on the west side to find no visitors or staff in the area. They proceeded to break into the residence to send a text message to family members in an attempt to get a ride home. Ranger Giasone Gigliotti arrived home to find the three leaving his residence through the back door, just as ranger Roberto Cruz was traveling through the area on patrol. All three were detained and cited for trespass and one who was on parole was cited for possession of a controlled substance. Further charges may be pending. [Chief Rangers Office]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Office of the Comptroller - On May 5th, approximately 150 NPS employees attended the Financial and Business Management System (FBMS) kickoff event at the National Conservation Training Center. The system is to replace FMSS and IDEAS next year.

Denver Service Center - DSC has released its annual report for last year. The report describes center operations, including year-end analysis from the contracting services, design and construction, planning, transportation, and information management divisions.

Little River Canyon NP - This year's week-long basic technical rescue training course (East) came to a successful conclusion on April 22nd with the graduation of 31 students. Photo.

Grand Canyon NP - Grand Canyon National Park employees and residents participated in the Annual Arizona Law Enforcement Torch Run on April 26th. Photo.

Fort Davis NHS - An effort is underway to replace photos and other career mementos that a retired NPS employee lost in the Rockhouse Fire last month. Details are provided on how you can help.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and 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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