NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, May 15, 2015
INCIDENTS
Denali NP&P
Two Climbers Rescued From Mount Dickey
Two climbers from Idaho were rescued from 7,500 feet on Mount Dickey after triggering a slab avalanche the evening of Monday, May 12th.
Luckily, S.S., 27, and M.W., 24, were not caught in the slide and were not injured. The two men attempted to self-evacuate from the mountain, but found no safe exit routes. The stranded climbers were observed by an air taxi pilot waving their arms above an ‘SOS' stomped out in the snow on the west shoulder of Mount Dickey.
Once NPS ranger staff was notified of the distress call, Denali's high altitude A-Star B3e helicopter and two mountaineering rangers flew to Ruth Gorge. Rangers made a positive identification of the two climbers, who had just activated their SPOT device. Pilot Andy Hermansky was able to land the helicopter on a flat section of the peak and evacuated S.S. and M.W. without further incident.
Mount Dickey is a 9,545-foot technical peak located in Denali National Park and Preserve's Ruth Gorge area. No other climbers besides S.S. and M.W. were observed climbing Mount Dickey that day.
Following several new feet of snow coupled with windy conditions in the Alaska Range, NPS rangers have observed widespread avalanche activity in the Ruth and Kahiltna Glacier areas. Following the one near miss on Mount Dickey which took place several days after the storm, the avalanche conditions appear to be lingering. The conditions are widespread, occurring on many aspects of the peaks and spanning a broad range of elevations.
Climbers have been advised to exercise caution due to the persistent nature of the avalanche hazard. For ongoing condition reports, climbers are directed to HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/dena/mountainblog.htm" http://www.nps.gov/dena/mountainblog.htm.
[Maureen Gualtieri]
Delaware Water Gap NRA
Woman Attempts Suicide In Park Picnic Area
On the evening of May 11th, park dispatch received a 911 call routed from the Monroe County 911 Center advising them that an unconscious woman had been found in the Watergate Picnic Area.
Park dispatch was also advised that an ambulance had been dispatched and that the woman might be the subject of a missing/endangered person report taken earlier by the Pennsylvania State Police.
Rangers arrived on scene as the semi-conscious woman was being loaded into the ambulance and accompanied the ambulance to Pocono Medical Center, where they were met by Pennsylvania State Police troopers. Preliminary investigation indicates that she'd attempted to commit suicide by consuming a combination of over-the-counter medication and alcohol. She was held at Pocono Medical Center for treatment and mental health evaluation.
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[Joe Hinkes, Law Enforcement Operations Supervisor]
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):
Grand Portage NM - Several new Ojibwe heritage murals are now on display in the park's Heritage Center. The four murals celebrate the Grand Portage Ojibwe and their way of life.
The White House - President Obama has directed that all flags be lowered to half staff today in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week. A link to the Presidential Proclamation is included.
Office of Communications - The National Park Service has commissioned the first comprehensive review of nationally significant historical sites of the Reconstruction Era (1861 to 1898).
Mount Rushmore NM - The park's wastewater treatment system team has received the 2014 Operation and Maintenance Wastewater Treatment Award from the South Dakota Department of Environmental and Natural Resources.
Carlsbad Cavern NP - Erich Robb and Ted Stout have been selected for 120-day detail assignments to the park as, respectively, chief ranger and chief of interpretation and education.
Servicewide Training Calendar - The following have been added to this week's calendar - a class on interdisciplinary resource protection and law, an advanced project management webinar, two seminars on writing effective performance standards, and a webinar on fraud awareness in fee collection operations.
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).
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