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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, August 12, 2014 INCIDENTS Grand Teton NP Seriously Injured Climber Rescued From Grand Teton An out-of-state climber sustained life-threatening injuries in an apparent fall while attempting to make a solo summit of the 13,770-foot Grand Teton on the morning of Friday, August 8th. Despite dense clouds and bad weather, rangers were able to rescue S.M., 60, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the support of a Teton Interagency Fire helicopter. Free climbing alone—without a climbing harness, rope or helmet—S.M. had reached an elevation of 13,300 feet on the Grand Teton and was climbing midway between the Friction Pitch and V-Pitch on the upper Exum Ridge route when the accident occurred. Although unable to recall exactly what happened, he believes he may have been struck by a rock, which caused him to fall or tumble possibly 100 feet down the steep, granite slabs strewn with loose rock that lies above the Friction Pitch. He incurred extensive traumatic injuries during his ‘tumbling' fall. Two climbers in a separate party came upon S.M., but did not have a cell phone to call for help. They continued to the summit of the Grand Teton, about 400 vertical feet beyond, where they located other climbers with a cell phone and called the Jenny Lake Ranger Station. In the meantime, another party of two climbers encountered S.M. and began to provide first aid as they also placed a 911 call. About an hour later, while the park's rescue operation was underway, a third climbing party with four firefighters from Boston, Massachusetts, also came upon S.M. and the two climbers who were assisting him. Two of the Boston climbers had medical training; they stayed with S.M. to provide advanced medical assistance until park rangers arrived. Due to the threat of an approaching storm, all the other climbers continued to the Grand's summit. Because of the cloud cover high on the mountain, a ground-based rescue mission was begun. The helicopter flew seven rangers and a Teton Interagency Fire helitack crew member to the Lower Saddle of the Grand Teton (elevation 11,600 feet), which was below the thick clouds. From the Lower Saddle, two rangers made a ‘blitz' ascent with minimal gear to quickly reach the critically injured climber and begin emergency medical care. Four additional rangers carried all the equipment necessary for a possible extended ground rescue. Fortunately, a break in the weather made it possible to short-haul a ranger and a rescue litter to the accident site. S.M.'s injuries were serious enough to warrant a life flight to Eastern Idaho Medical Center in Idaho Falls, but bad weather prevented the Air Idaho flight. Instead, Grand Teton rangers, emergency medical technicians and paramedics set up a temporary emergency room inside the Jenny Lake Rescue Cache to stabilize S.M. before transporting him by park ambulance to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson, Wyoming. S.M. arrived at the local hospital at 4:20 p.m., over five hours after his fall. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer] Hot Springs NP Rangers Deal With Disturbed Camper On the weekend of August 2nd, Ranger Ryan Howell encountered a 29-year-old man who had come into the Gulpha Gorge campground looking for a place to camp but was confused and acting strangely. A routine check on the man's vehicle revealed that he had a history of violence and a criminal past, including an attempt to murder his father. Howell also learned that he'd just bonded out of jail following an attack on his ex-girlfriend a few days previously. Information was passed along to the entire protection ranger staff warning them of the man's history. On Tuesday, August 5th, Chief Ranger John Hughes noticed a hangman's noose hanging from a tree in the man's campsite. Rangers Jeff Johnson and Clint Forte and park canine “Saki” responded and spoke to the man. The noose was then taken down from the tree, but it was noted that the man was wearing a large filet knife on his side. Shortly after clearing the campsite, a 911 call was relayed to park dispatch concerning a man who'd been snake-bitten at his campsite. A second call came in shortly thereafter reporting a man and woman fighting at the campsite. Rangers responded and staged in a safe location to prepare their approach. Several nearby campers and the man's mother notified park rangers that he had been talking of suicide by hanging himself. EMS was staged at this time. When the man saw rangers in the area, he fled further down Gulpha Creek and out of site. After a couple of hours of searching, he was found underneath a highway bridge and was talked out and taken into protective custody with only a brief bit of resistance. While being loaded into the waiting ambulance, he was questioned as to the location of the large filet knife. He said that the knife had been hidden next to a large rock, where he intended to have a woman accompany him later that night. Rangers interviewed the man's mother and learned that he had invited his ex-girlfriend to visit him at the rock next to the creek that night. It is unknown at this time of his intentions, but park staff are concerned that a murder-suicide may have been his plan. Due to his violent behavior, hospital workers asked that rangers standby with the man at the hospital for several hours until his handcuffs could be safely removed. The attending physician ordered him sent to a mental hospital for treatment. [John Hughes, 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): Ellis Island NM - What relevance does a historic site like Ellis Island have for immigrants today? Quite a lot, according to college students participating in the park's latest facilitated dialogue program. Today's Almanac - Today's weather notes and remembrances from National Park Service history. Red flag warnings are up for most of the Northwest. Heavy rain and flash floods are forecast for much of the Northeast. [Internal only] Denver Service Center - NPS staff recently visited the site of a major Washington, DC, project that will capture and clean water from heavy rainfalls before it reaches the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek. Yosemite NP - On the evening of Sunday, June 29th, Director Jarvis presented the Director's Partnership Award to the Yosemite Conservancy at a dinner kicking off the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Yosemite Grant. US Park Police - On June 11th, Andrew Goodrich was awarded the Department of Defense's' Patriot Award for his outstanding work in helping recovering military service members acquire professional skills as they transition out of their active duty careers. 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). --- ### --- |