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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, May 20, 2014 INCIDENTS Crater Lake NP Search For Missing Snowshoer Scaled Back On the morning of Wednesday, April 30th, park dispatch received a report that a visitor who'd rented snowshoes from the park concessioner two days previously had failed to return from a hike in the park to take pictures. Rangers immediately began a search of the Rim Village area and located his vehicle. Rangers, other park staff and volunteer ski patrol members searched trails leading from Rim Village for any sign of him. A life flight helicopter flew the caldera rim below the village, but could only search briefly due to high winds in the area. The helicopter also flew the road around the lake, but there was no sign of the missing hiker. Rangers contacted all other persons who had rented snowshoes during the time period between that Monday and Wednesday. Following a lead from one of them, rangers located a personal item belonging to the hiker that had been turned in as lost and found. Search teams then responded to an area along the Garfield Peak Trail where the item had been found and came upon a single set of snowshoe tracks leading from the trail onto a snow cornice that had collapsed. Extensive search efforts were conducted in that area over subsequent days by ground and air, but no signs of the man were found. The broken snow cornice extended out over a near vertical 1100 foot section of the caldera wall. A fall from that location would likely not be survivable. The search was subsequently scaled back, but is ongoing as weather and snow conditions permit. Investigation of the lakeshore by boat will occur in the coming weeks once access is possible and conditions are safe. Warm, sunny weather the day the hiker went missing followed several days of substantial snowfall at the park and likely contributed to the type of unstable snow conditions that lead to the cornices collapsing. Snow cornices pose a serious hazard. Cornices are formed when snow is blown over sharp terrain such as the rim of Crater Lake. The snow forms an overhang with no solid ground beneath it for support. Snow cornices are a regular occurrence in the park this time of year and can collapse without warning. Visitors are warned to use extreme caution and stay away from the edge of the rim at all times. Ranger Jordan Neumann is the incident commander. [Curt R. Dimmick, Chief Ranger] New River Gorge NR Rangers Recue Woman Suffering From Drug Overdose A hiker was just about to head out on the Long Point Trail when she noticed someone throwing pieces of paper from a vehicle at the trailhead parking area. When she walked up to the car to talk to them about litter, she found that the papers were notes asking for someone to call 911. She made the call and rangers, Fayette County Sheriff's Office deputies, and EMS personnel responded. They found an unconscious woman behind the wheel, a dazed man in the passenger seat, and three kids ranging from age three to eight in the backseat. One of them had been composing the notes. Rangers performed EMS on the woman until paramedics arrived and took over patient care. Synthetic drugs were found in the car. The woman was transported to the hospital, the man was transported to jail for public intoxication, and the three kids were turned over to child protective services. Charges for the adults are pending further investigation. INCLUDEPICTURE "https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET [Jeff West, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Brown v. Board of Education NHS - First Lady Michelle Obama visited the park last Friday and spoke to students about how the nation has progressed in race relations in education over the past 60 years and about the work that still needs to be done. Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - This week is National EMS Week, a time when the nation recognizes those who provide medical assistance to the sick and injured. Each year, NPS EMS personnel provide care to more than 12,000 staff, volunteers and visitors. Everglades NP - Park fire and aviation staff participated in the Waterstone Charter School's Career Week on May 13th. Over 1,100 students had the opportunity to learn about NPS jobs in fire and aviation management. Gulf Islands NS - A commemoration of the successful assault on Pascagoula, Mississippi, by the 2nd Regiment of the Louisiana Native Guards during the Civil War was held in the park in mid-April. Intermountain Region - Duane Hubbard has been named superintendent of Tonto National Monument. Prior to becoming superintendent, he served as an archaeologist and cultural resource specialist for the Southern Arizona Group. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |