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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, July 12, 2012 INCIDENTS Grand Teton NP Rangers Rescue Stranded Climber From Middle Teton A man who became stranded on the Middle Teton on Monday evening was rescued by rangers the following day. E.R., 27, intended a solo summit of the Middle Teton on Monday, but traveled off route and became ‘cliffed out.' E.R. ended up in a location from which he did not feel he could safely get down without risk of injury. E.R. placed a 911 call for help just after 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The call was received in Teton Valley, Idaho, and transferred to a park dispatcher. The ranger who was scheduled to coordinate rescues on Monday was able to communicate directly with E.R. via cell phone and determined that he had enough food and water, as well as appropriate gear and extra clothing, to spend the night on the Middle Teton. Rescue operations began at 4:30 Tuesday morning as two rangers started hiking at first light. Rangers were not able to locate E.R. from the ground. Fortunately, a Teton interagency contract helicopter was scheduled to be at Lupine Meadows for short-haul training that day, so rangers decided to employ that ship for a reconnaissance flight to pinpoint E.R.'s location on the mountain. Rangers and the helicopter pilot determined that the best rescue plan was to short-haul E.R. from his precarious location to a landing zone in the South Fork of Garnet Canyon. From there, park rangers escorted him down the canyon. A technical lowering and rescue by ground was estimated to require six people and approximately six hours to perform, exposing more rescuers to hazardous terrain for a longer period of time. Once in a hazardous situation, E.R. made sound decisions - he stayed put, called for help, followed rescuer instructions, and was prepared to spend an unexpected night on the mountain, having brought extra food, water, and clothing. This decision may very well have prevented him from getting seriously injured or worse. This was the park's third major search and rescue in the mountains this summer. [Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles, Public Affairs Specialist] 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/): Isle Royale NP - On June 28th, a ceremony was held to mark the installation of a new ballast treatment system aboard Ranger III, which carries passengers and cargo on Lake Superior between Houghton, Michigan, and Isle Royale. It will help keep exotics out of the Great Lakes. Office of Communications - While the National Park System Advisory Board is best known for recommending National Historic Landmarks, it also weighs in on National Natural Landmarks and the significance of National Historic Trails. Its committees recruit and engage subject matter experts, and more than 100 experts are working on the NPS's critical issues and opportunities. Southeast Region - Dr. Turkiya L. Lowe has been selected as Southeast Region's new chief of history. She assumes her new duties on July 15th. Mount Rainier NP - Tracy Swartout has been named the park's new deputy superintendent. She will begin her new assignment on September 2nd. * * * * 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). --- ### --- |