NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, September 29, 2011

INCIDENTS

Yosemite NP

Austrian Climber Rescued From El Capitan

Yosemite rangers made a complex, high-angle helicopter rescue of an Austrian climber on El Capitan on the afternoon of Monday, September 26th. The climber and his partner were ascending El Capitan on The Nose Route, a popular and difficult climbing route on the 7,569-foot-high granite monolith in Yosemite Valley. After two days of climbing, they were approximately 1,000 feet below the summit. In mid-afternoon, the lead climber fell, losing his thumb when a secondary rope wrapped around the appendage and severed it. The thumb fell about 80 feet and landed on a two-foot by one-foot ledge, where his partner was able to retrieve it. The climbers then called the park for assistance. Just before 4 p.m., the park's contract helicopter, piloted by Richard Shatto and carrying helitack crew members Jeff Pirog and Eric Small and rangers Jeff Webb and Dave Pope, flew from Yosemite Valley to assess the situation. Although the weather was favorable, impending darkness was an issue and Eric Gabriel, district ranger for Yosemite Valley and IC for the incident, made the decision to attempt to extract the climber via short haul. Gabriel, who had consulted with the park's medical clinic, knew of the short window of time in which the thumb could successfully be reattached and felt the complex mission was worth pursuing. The helicopter hovered near the climbers and Webb and Pope were successfully short-hauled to the injured climber, who was flown back to El Capitan Meadow. He was then transferred to another air medical helicopter to be flown out of the park. Webb remained with the partner overnight and was raised approximately 1,000 feet to the summit the following day using traditional rock-rescue techniques. Later that evening, the injured climber underwent surgery at the California Pacific Medical Center's Davies Campus in San Francisco, where his thumb was successfully reattached. “This was an incredibly technical and complex rescue mission with a lot of inherent risk,” said Gabriel. “However, knowing that the thumb could be reattached, coupled with the confidence I have in my team, I made the decision to attempt this rescue. I was relieved and thrilled that this ended successfully and we were able to make a positive difference in this person's life.” [Scott Gediman, Assistant Superintendent for Public & Legislative Affairs, and Kari Cobb, Public Affairs Officer]

New River Gorge NR

Woman On Commercial Raft Tour Drowns In Gauley River

A commercial raft with six people on board overturned at the Pillow Rock Rapid on the Gauley River around 8:30 a.m. on the morning of September 26th. The river was flowing at about 3200 cubic feet per second when the raft overturned, ejecting the occupants. River guides pulled the rafters out of the river and conducted a head count. When the count came up one short, they initiated emergency protocols and began searching for her. The missing rafter was identified as a 40-year-old West Virginia woman. The National Park Service was notified within minutes and responded with rangers and river patrol units. Joining in the response were personnel from the Department of Natural Resources, Carnifex Ferry State Park, Kessler Cross Lanes VFD, the West Virginia State Police and National Guard, Nicholas County Emergency Services, and Jan Care. A downriver search of other rafts, trails and access points was conducted while river units began a detailed search of the Pillow Rock rapids. Pillow Rock is located about four miles below the Summersville Dam. This is a class V rapid and has a 30-foot drop over the course of the run. The Army Corps of Engineers gradually reduced the flow to the rapid over several hours to allow other rafts to safely navigate down the river. Around 3 p.m., with the flow down to about 500 cubic feet per second, river rangers Kathy Zerkle and Matt McQueen spotted a life vest under a large unnamed rock below the rapids and soon found the missing rafter's body. It was recovered and brought to shore. [Jeff West, Chief Ranger]

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/):

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science - A diverse group of park professionals and external experts in lionfish biology and control met in September to draft a lionfish response plan for the NPS. Lionfish are voracious predators capable of causing profound impacts on marine ecosystems as well as visitor safety and experience in parks.

Northeast Region - Barbara L. Pollarine has been selected as the chief of interpretation, education and partnership development for Northeast Region. Photo.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources 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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