NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, July 16, 2009

INCIDENT

Grand Teton NP

Injured Climber Evacuated By Helicopter From Teewinot Mountain

An injured climber was evacuated by helicopter from Teewinot Mountain on the afternoon of Saturday, July 11th. S.R., 22, of Jackson, Wyoming, sustained serious injuries when he slipped on snow and tumbled about 200 feet before landing on a break between two snow patches while attempting to descend the North West Couloir (elevation 12,000 ft). He was wearing crampons and carrying an ice axe at the time, but was unable to perform a self arrest. S.R.'s climbing party had successfully reached the summit of Teewinot and was on their way down when the accident occurred; all of the climbers had ice axes and crampons, but none were wearing helmets. The group decided to make their decent via the South West Couloir but missed their intended route and ended up on the more technical North West Couloir. Rangers were notified of the accident at around noon when one of S.R.'s companions placed a call for help from a cell phone. Rangers immediately organized a rescue and requested the assistance of an interagency contract helicopter for support in the operation. The helicopter flew to Lupine Meadows, picked up several rangers, and performed an aerial reconnaissance flight. Rangers were able to remain in contact via cell phone with a member of S.R.'s climbing party, which was helpful in pinpointing his location on the mountain. A suitable helicopter landing zone near the accident site allowed rangers to arrive on scene just before 2 p.m. Rangers provided S.R. with emergency medical care before placing him in a rescue litter for aerial evacuation. He was then flown via short-haul directly to the Jenny Lake rescue cache located on the valley floor. A park ambulance transported S.R. to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for further treatment of his injuries. Rangers also evacuated S.R.'s companions via helicopter after helping them descend to the high west shoulder of Teewinot Mountain. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

Glacier NP

Concession Employee Drowns In Canoeing Accident

J.G., 22, and J.“C.”N., 29, both employees of Glacier Park, Inc., a park concessioner, were canoeing on Swiftcurrent Lake on the park's east side around 3 a.m. on the morning of July 14th when their canoe tipped over. J.N. made it to shore, but J.G. did not. Responding rangers found his body just before noon in about eight feet of water. It was brought to shore and sent to the coroner's office in Glacier County for an autopsy. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 40s at the time of the incident. About 20 park employees were involved in the search for the body. An investigation is underway. [Wade Muehlhof]

Blue Ridge Parkway

Suicide Victim Found In Park Campground

The McDowell County Sheriff's Office contacted the park around 9:30 p.m. on July 10th and advised rangers that a possibly suicidal man might be in the Craggy Gardens picnic area or the Crabtree Meadows area and that he was thought to be driving a rented maroon minivan. These two locations and the stretch of parkway between them span 66 miles. Rangers checked the entire area but found neither the man nor the vehicle. On the following morning, rangers were notified that the man's cell phone had ‘pinged' a county cell tower earlier that same morning. The areas were again checked, but without success - until a corrected vehicle description was passed on by park dispatch. At 9 a.m. a rented, full-sized white van was found in the Crabtree Meadows campground. The body of Gary Hanna, a 50-year-old North Carolina man, was found inside. Hannah was reportedly despondent over recent financial difficulties, mental and physical ailments that he and his father were suffering, and the loss of his job at the end of this year. Investigators concluded that Hannah locked himself inside the rented van and ignited a charcoal grill sometime in the late evening, then apparently succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. At the time of discovery, the charcoal was still glowing and holding a significant amount of heat. This was the fourth suicide in the Pisgah District and the sixth overall in the park this year. [Jay Shields, Gillespie Gap Supervisory Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS.

Great Basin NP - On June 27th, the park and the National Parks Conservation Association hosted a star party at the Great Basin Visitor Center. With the aid of 22 telescopes and numerous amateur and professional astronomers, a large crowd was able to see the moon, planets, stars, and constellations as they had never seen them before.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7925" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7925

Office of Equal Employment Opportunity - The Office of Equal Employment Opportunity has posted two documents to the web - a summary of the new EEO program plan for FY 2009 and a listing of FY 2008 accomplishments and FY 2009 updates.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7926" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7926

Natural Resource Program Center - The spring, 2009, issue of Park Science is now available online. A link is provided to this edition.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7927" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7927

Denali NP&P - Phyllis Hassinger, a spry 85-year old great-grandmother from Wasilla, Alaska, has been recognized for her twenty seasons of volunteer campground host service at Denali. Photo.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2417" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2417

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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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