RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

Attention: Directorate
           Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
           CC: RAD Information Net

Day/date:  Tuesday, May 21, 1991

INCIDENTS

91-166 - Mount Rainier (Washington) - Climbing Fatality

At 4:00 a.m. on May 17th, J.T., 44, of Lakewood, Colorado, 
and L.S., 37, of Littleton, Colorado, began the last 
leg of an ascent of Mount Rainier.  They left most of their 
equipment at Camp Muir, which is at 10,000 feet, and took only 
fanny packs with them.  While crossing a snow bridge at 12,500 
feet, both men broke through and fell and tumbled 150 feet into 
a crevasse.  L.S. was able to get free, but was unable to 
extricate J.T.  J.T. died of exposure and injuries about 
four to five hours later.  It took L.S. a day and a half to 
climb out of the crevasse.  He used J.T.'s crampons as 
hand-held aids in conjunction with his own crampons to ascend the 
crevasse wall, then started back toward Camp Muir.  Meanwhile, a 
search had begun for the climbers.  Although initially hampered 
by weather, a helicopter was finally gotten aloft on the 18th, 
and rangers on board soon spotted tracks around 9,000 feet.  
These were followed to around 5,500 feet, but were lost due to 
fog.  Search efforts were halted by darkness, but rangers were 
posted on the roads in case the climbers made it out to a 
highway.  One ranger left his vehicle to make tracks in the snow 
to aid the climbers if they came that way.  He left a note in 
the car telling them to start the engine and warm up and that he 
would return shortly.  When he got back to his car around 7:30 
p.m., the ranger found L.S. inside.  L.S. briefed rangers 
about the events which had taken place while being transported 
to a local hospital.  As of yesterday afternoon, the park was 
reviewing the possibility of recovering J.T.'s body.  Attempts 
are under way to find the crevasse.  [Bill Larson, MORA, via 
SEAdog message from Mark Forbes, RAD/PNRO, 5/20]

91-167 - Great Smokies (Tennessee/North Carolina) - Rescue

On the afternoon of the 19th, S.K., 61, of Knoxville, 
Tennessee, fell about five feet and struck his head while 
visiting Wilson Falls, which is about one mile from and 1,000 
feet below the Mount Collins trail shelter on the Appalachian 
Trail.  The shelter itself is about six miles from a paved road.  
S.K. sustained probable head, neck and back injuries in the 
fall, so a carryout was required.  Over two dozen rangers were 
employed in the effort, which took place in a continuous rain 
storm at night and in rugged terrain.  S.K. was to have 
reached the highway and a waiting ambulance early yesterday 
morning.  [Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, via telefax from Steve Smith, 
RAD/SERO, 5/20]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Olympic (Washington) - Cougar Activity

On May 12th, a woman out for a Mother's Day stroll with her 
young son had an encounter with a cougar.  They were leaving a 
river shore and climbing the bank when the mother turned around 
to make sure her son get up alright and saw a cougar stalking 
the boy at a distance of about 50 to 75 feet.  Later that 
afternoon, two hikers came into the visitor center and reported 
that they'd seen a cougar with a fresh elk kill below the trail 
on a gravel bar at the same location.  Park biologists hiked up 
the trail and located the kill site.  They found two different 
sized prints in the area, one about six inches in length and the 
other about half that size.  Later on the afternoon of the 13th, 
two hikers came to the visitor center to report a close 
encounter with two mountain lions.  They said that they'd been 
jogging down the trail when two cats leaped from the brush about 
six feet from the trail and followed them for about 100 yards.  
The incident occurred just down from the kill site.  When 
rangers attempted to elicit more information from them regarding 
the cats, they were told by the hikers that they'd not noticed 
much else since their prime interest had been in "not becoming 
kitty dinners" and had run from the scene with appropriate haste.  
[Bruce Moorhead, OLYM, via SEAdog message from Mark Forbes, 
RAD/PNRO]

THIS DAY IN NPS SAR HISTORY...

May 21, 1966 - Fire Island seasonal interpretive ranger William 
Shaner, 23, who was on his first day as a ranger, and 
maintenance man Ashley Smith, 37, drowned along with James 
Lawler, 25, a local man, when the three attempted to rescue two 
people from the surf.  Both Smith and Shaner received the DOI 
Valor Award and the Carnegie Hero Award posthumously; Lawler 
received the Carnegie Award posthumously.  A fourth rescuer, 
James Del Giudice, 32, survived and also received the Carnegie 
Award.

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: Dabney at finance meeting, Reston, VA (5/20-5/22).

Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Sisto at planning course at
Santa Monica Mountains (5/20-5/24); Marriott at drug operations review,
Yosemite (5/20-5/23); Henry at finance meeting, Reston, VA (5/20-5/22).

Branch of Fire: Hurd at NWCG meeting, Boston, MA (5/22-5/24); Botti
attending orientation to fire science lab, Missoula, MT (5/20-5/23); Cook
training Arrowhead Hotshot Crew, Sequoia (5/20-5/23); Broyles and Farrel
at fireline safety committee meeting, Boston, MA (5/20-5/24); Norum
working on wildfire response procedures, Fairbanks, AK (5/19-5/25).

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone:  FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
Telefax:    FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER (Branch of R&VP); WASO-FIRE-WO (Branch of Fire)
SEAdog:     1/650