Highlights of The Year 1998

Compiled by Webmaster from Newsletters and scrapbook created by Nickie Leyen

The following accounts of field operations are the best efforts of the newsletter editor, are NOT official reports, and may have errors and omissions, for which apologies and regrets are expressed in advance.

January

Sgt. Boe Turner reported the year's statistics for the SAR team missions. There were 38 missions, nearly consuming the $14,000 annual budget line item. Only $2100 was spent rescuing county residents.

Fund raising has been going uncommonly well (and just in time, too). Dave Harvey has secured a $5,000 donation to the team from Rusty Gregory and Mammoth Mountain, with intention expressed for continuing support. Thanks very much to Rusty, and good job Dave!

Our fund raiser raffle in conjunction with Kittredge's has netted about $2400 for the team. Many thanks to those who donated, and to all you ticket sellers.

The Mammoth Rotary Club has very generously given us $1,000, plus proceeds for one year from their weekly raffle. Thanks, Rotarians, and be assured we will use it well.

January 4, 1998. 98-??R. Search for boy at Marine Corps housing - cancelled. Responders were: Aguirre, DeGeorge, Enright, Gilbreath, Greene, Harvey, Rosnau

January 12, 1998 - Winter Travel Training with Dean Rosnau at June Mountain

January 17, 1998. 98-01R. Airplane crash. One deceased, one survivor. Our response was cancelled when location determined to be in Alpine County. Responders were: Rosnau, DeGeorge, Endo, Harvey, and Gilbreath.

January 22, 1998 - Lake Ice Rescue Training with Dean Rosnau at June Lake Marina

January 26, 1998 - Avalanche Training with Dieme and Conell at June Mountain

January 31, 1998. 98-02R. Chris Demond came to Mammoth with friends, who last saw him at 0830 at Canyon Lodge. Known to be an advanced skier, known to like to ski trees near the Secret Spot run from Chair 12.. Though no specific meeting place had been arranged, the RP had expected to see the subject at their rented condo at Snowflower # 84, and when he had not shown up by 2300, RP Bob Mount reported the subject missing to deputies working the Canyon Lodge party.

Sgt Hazard was IC. Rescue team called out at 2313 by pager to respond to Main Lodge Ski Patrol office. Telephone tree started by Gilbreath, and completed by Enright. After interviewing the RP and subject’s wife via telephone, Sgt Hazard arranged for a MMSA snowcat to go down to Red’s Meadows and look for the subject while SAR team members were enroute.

Bob Sollima contacted via telephone at Red’s Meadows, who turned on all his lights and started blowing his whistle to attract the subject. Rescue 3 dispatched with Aguirre and Taylor to provide attraction with bullhorn and walk and search roads at Tamarack lodge area.

Snowcat driver reported seeing a steady red light between Agnew and Red’s high on the ridge. His radio battery also nearly dead. Team 1 of Harvey and Greene, plus Team 2 of Bauss and DeGeorge taken by crewcat to top of Chair 12 to snowshoe down through trees near Secret Spot.

Sgt Hazard and Deputy Hallum went down on S.O. snowmobiles to take a fresh battery to the snowcat driver and investigate the red light. Red light determined to be the beacon on top of the gondola building which is not flashing due to malfunction.

Teams 1 & 2 found nothing in two searches of the runs near Secret Spot, and Rescue 3 team found nothing; all returned to base.

At 0235 Mammoth PD radioed that the subject was at their office. Operation terminated. Telephone interview of subject revealed he had been waiting at the wrong condo unit (#3 instead of #84). Responders were: Bauss, DeGeorge, Aguirre, Taylor, Rosnau, Harvey, Greene, Gilbreath, Scott LeFever, Lalande, Tracey, and Robinson.

Welcome to new Candidate Members Paul Zahn, Lewis DeWitt, Bob Edlund, and Gene McCurdy, who were accepted at the January team meeting.

February

February 3, 1998. 98-03R. Three subjects left their vehicle at the road closure of Lake Mary Road at 1030 on Friday January 30, and skied up to a snow camp above the outlet of Arrowhead lake at Lat 30-35.1, Long 118-58.7. Subjects were well equipped, and had snow camped before.

They spent Saturday near Skelton Lake. Heavy snow started Saturday night and continued through Sunday and the night, with about 1-2 feet by Monday morning. Subjects had a wilderness permit only through Monday. Monday morning they broke camp at 0930 and skied down to the Coldwater summer trailhead by 1330. Then spent 2 more hours making little progress, and pitched their tent next to a campground toilet, where they stayed until Wednesday.

Subjects’ car was reported to be in the parking lot of Tamarack on Tuesday by a Tamarack employee who did not actually go to the vehicle and positively identify it. Avalanche danger was very high, and local expert John Moynier advised against foot travel beyond Tamarack until at least Wednesday. Avalanche closed Lake Mary Road early Tuesday so deputies could not get through until evening.

The car was not found by the deputy when he did get there late Tuesday, presumably because it was parked on Lake Mary road and totally covered with snow. Mr. Robert’s brother drove up from LA and with Investigator Rutkowski found the car on Wednesday morning at 0840.

Rescue 2 helicopter from Fallon NAS arrived Mammoth airport approximately 0945. Crew was briefed by Dean Rosnau, and lifted off to search at 1010. At 1034 Rescue 2 reported sighting the subjects at a building near Coldwater Campground. A Tamarack snowcat that was in the area grooming trails picked up the subjects and took them to the lodge at 1100, where they dug out their car, were interviewed by Investigator Rutkowski, and then were escorted to Mammoth Lakes and interviewed by SAR team members. Responders were: Harvey, Gilbreath, and Rosnau.

February 14, 1998. 98-04R Overdue snowmobiles. There was no team response.

February 18, 1998 - Candidate Training #1 with Jim Gilbreath, Dean Rosnau and Pete DeGeorge at Mammoth Fire Station #2

February 19, 1998 - Candidate Training #2 with Jim Gilbreath, Dean Rosnau and Pete DeGeorge at Mammoth Fire Station #2

February 26, 1998 98-06R. David Blais was snowboarding alone in the Hemlock Ridge area of MMSA, and became disoriented in low clouds approximately 1330, and descended into Turkey Gulch. He post-holed for 4 hours through chest-deep snow while shouting for help.

About 1700 one of Bob Sollima's dogs chanced upon the subject, followed a bit later by Bob, who took the subject to his cabin for the night. Avalanche conditions were high, and prevented access by snowcat or snowmobile.

The next day Sollima escorted the subject over Mammoth Pass on an extra set of his skis, where he was met by Rosnau, Greene, and Bob's weekly mail courier, who had ridden Sheriff's Office snowmobiles to Lake George, then skied and snowshoed the rest of the way to the rendezvous.

Mr. Blais possibly owes his life to the good fortune to have been found by the dog, as no one would have reported him missing for 11 days. Responders were: Harvey, Greene, Rosnau, Gilbreath, Nelson, Taylor, Robinson, Enyeart, Aguirre, and Sollima.

See related story Hero Dog - An Angel in the Snow.

March

March 1, 1998. 98-07R. Manuel (Manny) Juarez, age 17, was reported overdue from snow boarding the Chair 14 Hemlock Ridge area by his friend Jim Hailey (RP1) at approximately 1330. The subject's mother (RP2) confirmed that being overdue was very unlike his normal behavior.

The team was called out approximately 1530 to main lodge Ski Patrol. Ski Patrol Supervisor John McGrath reported finding snowboard tracks heading down towards Reds Creek from the Hemlock Ridge area. A MMSA snowcat was dispatched approximately 1600 to pack the road down to Reds Meadows.

At 1630 Team 1 of Rosnau, McBride, and Harvey were shuttled via MMSA snowmobile to a point east of Hemlock Ridge near the top of Turkey Gulch and began a sweep to the right west of Peak 3044T (Hemlock).

Bob Sollima was contacted via phone and reported being on the Mammoth Pass route most of the day and not cutting any new tracks except many near the bottom where several people were camped at the hot springs.

At 1707 Team 1 on skis began following a good track heading northwest. Snow conditions were glazed and crusty, and turns were difficult. At 1732 they made voice contact with two snow boarders who were not injured but in need of rescue.

They had been hiking uphill for over 3 hours and were exhausted. The location was about four tenths of a mile southwest of Reds Lake (UTM 318120, 4167320). Neither was Manny Juarez. They were Louie and Steve Maffioli (brothers). They stated a third member of their party named Rodney Heater had become separated from them and was probably below them.

After providing water, food, and rest, Team 1 continued on north and down slope, cutting for additional tracks and escorting the Maffiolis. At 1802 Team 1 made voice contact with a third subject, identified as Rodney Heater. At 1812 Team 1 reached Rodney and found he was with Manny Juarez at UTM 317640, 4167331.

Team 1 escorted all four subjects down through dense trees and difficult breakable crust toward the road. Two SO snowmobiles (Sgt. Hazard and Dan Wright) were sent down with water which was badly needed by the dehydrated subjects. Rodney Heater was particularly exhausted and complaining, and was put on snowshoes.

At 1929 Team 1, the subjects, the snowcat, and the snowmobiles all arrived at the road and extraction began. Harvey and Rosnau came out via SO snowmobiles, the rest came out in and on the snowcat, arriving at Ski Patrol at 2032. All were very tired and cold, but uninjured.

Upon debrief, all the subjects denied seeing any signs or warnings or out of bounds closures. Responders were: McBride, Rosnau, Baker, Wright, Lalande, Harvey, Gilbreath, Bauss, Greene, Browne, Scott LeFever, Newman, Aguirre, and DeGeorge.

NOTE: The Maffiolis and Heater were extremely lucky that Manny Juarez had been reported overdue early and a search was started for him, since there was no one who would have known they were missing. This coincidence probably saved their lives. Four for the price of one!

March 9, 1998 - Steep Snow Training with Dean Rosnau at Lee Vining Canyon

March 12, 1998 - Vertical Ice Climbing Training with Dean Rosnau at LeeVining Canyon

March 15, 1998. 98-08R . Possible Airplane crash. The reporting party saw a plane fly behind a hill while driving south on Hwy 395 near Benton Crossing Road. Another RP saw the same thing. Greg Enright and Dave Harvey responded to Whitmore Pool and using ELT direction finder were unable to detect any signal. They snowshoed 1/2 mile south of Whitmore to check that area. No ELT signal was heard, and no aircraft was officially reported missing. Responders were: Enright, Harvey

March 20, 1998 - snow Travel/Bivouac Training with Dean Rosnau at Reverse Peak

March 30, 1998. 98-09R. Lost snowboarders. Ian Frias was last seen about 1350 by RP1 when he was hiking up toward the top of Hemlock Ridge with his snowboard. Mike Stafford was last seen about 1500 at the top of Hemlock Ridge by his friends Glen and Dino (RP2 and RP3), before all three started boarding down the wrong (west) side into Madera County. Poor visibility was given as a factor.

After descending several hundred feet, Dino and Glen realized their error and took about 3 hours to climb up and out to the ski area near Reds Lake. Mike had been even farther to the left (west), and did not detect his error until much later. Both Ian and Mike were reported missing after the ski area had closed for the day.

The SAR team was called out at approximately 1800. Ian was reported as lightly dressed with no hat. Mike was reported to be well dressed, but neither had food, water, or matches. Ski Patroller Lizza checked the area around Chair 14 via snowmobile on his way to the gondola building. Snowcat PB-25 was dispatched to pack the road down to Reds Meadow.

PB-4 took Team 1 (Rosnau & McBride) to the top of Santiago, and Team 2 (Harvey &DeGeorge) to the Reds Lake area. Team 1 found no tracks descending into Turkey Gulch, and continued to the top of Hemlock, where they found four tracks descending the west side.

Team 2 found the tracks made by Dino and Glen when they climbed out and began searching the Reds Lake drainage.

The S.O. snowmobiles from the substation had not been brought up by the Deputy due to the tow vehicle being inoperable. SAR members Baker and Kennedy were dispatched with Deputy Gordon to get them up here somehow, and they arrived at 2052. Team 3 of Aguirre and Greene rode the snowmobiles to the Reds Lake area and searched it, using a bullhorn as attraction. PB-25 reached the Reds gate at 2130. Bob Sollima was contacted via phone and checked the hot springs area, then met up with PB-25 at the Reds gate. Sollima then searched toward Sotcher Lake on skis.

Team 1 followed the western-most track of the four they found at the top of Hemlock, which descended steeply in the general direction of Pumice Flat. Team 2 headed south and intercepted tracks (Mike's) heading generally northwest, and followed them down and across the Reds Lake streambed. Team 3 was dispatched down the road, making stops for bullhorn attraction between Starkweather Lake and Sotcher Lake.

Tracks followed by Teams 1 and 2 sometimes went uphill, but generally continued down. Team 1 followed Ian's track to a point about 400 yards east of the Pumice Flat Ranger Station, where it headed uphill to the northeast. Team 3 was dispatched to the road heading south from Minaret Vista, intending to get to the Gun3 area.

About 200 yards in, they stopped and tried the bullhorn, and made voice contact with both Ian and Mike, who had encountered each other just before dark and climbed together up to a point about 400 yards southwest of the junction of the Minaret road and the Madera County line, where they made a makeshift camp from tree branches.

They were brought out by Team 3 at 0120 on snowmobiles, were cold and wet, but not injured or in any need of medical aid. Teams 1 and 2 continued down to meet PB-25 at Pumice Flat, and were brought out at 0237.

The Team's portable computer was used for the first time in this operation, and proved to be very useful. Responders were: Gilbreath (ops), Rosnau, Enright, Frees, Tracey, Baker, Bauss, Kennedy, Riggs, Endo, Enyeart, Sollima, Aguirre, Greene, McBride, Harvey, and DeGeorge.

Welcome to new Candidate Members Lisa Baker, Billy Czeschin, Todd Edwards, and John Robinson, who were accepted at the March team meeting.

Dean Rosnau, substituting for Don Little, made a SAR presentation (aided a little by Jim and Dave) to the Loma Linda Medical-Dental Society which was very enthusiastically received. They kindly donated $750 to our team!

Fund raising has continued to go well for us this month. Dave Harvey received a check for $3500 from Intrawest. Dean Rosnau received donations of $1,000 and $200 from clients, and a new neighbor of Jim Gilbreath donated $750 (designated for 3 GPS receivers).

April

Volunteers to represent the team and help with raffle ticket sales at the June Mtn Telefest were Kevin McBride, Michelle Tracey, and Bob Edlund. Thanks.

He’s not a "people" but Leroy the black German Shepherd, handled by John Mair of Mammoth PD, will be training with and aiding our team in the near future. We’re going to have more good canine resources soon, since Karen and Tim LeFever, Karen Riggs, and Dan Burnham are all training dogs. At long last Trapper is getting a little help. And don’t forget his new puppy buddy Slider, who will be learning the ropes when he grows up a little.

See related story about Leroy ... Sniffing for a Living

April 2, 1998. 98-11R. Injured and stranded snowboarders. Marcus Tanimoto and Jessie Tsao were snowboarding down the Dragon’s Back area of Mammoth Mtn when Mr Tanimoto went over a cliff with enough speed to clear the rocks, but fell in the snow about 120 feet down. They were unaware that the gully ended in a cliff.

Mr. Tanimoto suffered head injuries and was carried out by Mammoth Fire and transported by Medic 3 to Mammoth Hospital. Mr. Tsao was able to stop uninjured above the cliff, but could not move unaided. He was roped up by MMSA Ski Patrol and climbed to the top of the Gully and was able to snowboard to Canyon Lodge.

Rescue team members Rosnau and Harvey were on their way up Chair 15 with ropes and skis when Mr. Tsao reached the top of the gully. Responders were: Enright (ops) Rosnau, Harvey, Greene, Gilbreath, Endo, Little, Bauss, DeGeorge, McBride, and Rousek.

April 5, 1998. 98-12R Lost Skier, Mammoth Mountain. Costas Manganiotis was reported overdue in the Chair 14 area by friends he had last seen at Froggy’s curve above the Santiago ski run. He had intended to ski Santiago, but failed to turn right in time and descended into Turkey Gulch.

MMSA snowcat PB-25 was dispatched to pack the road down to Reds Meadow. PB-26 transported teams 2 and 3 to the Chair 14 area to begin their searches. Team 1 searched Horseshoe Lake and Mammoth Pass on Dan Wright’s snowmobile. Team 4 searched Reds Lake and then the San Joaquin drainage with S. O. snowmobiles and bullhorn. Team 3 searched inside the ski area on snowshoes, including Arriba, Santiago, and the trees below Road Runner.

Bob Sollima searched from his house on skis toward Sotcher Lake. Team 2 of Rosnau and Frees found tracks leading down Turkey Gulch at the Ski Patrol perimeter and followed them on skis down and out onto Sotcher Lake, which had some open water.

They retreated around the lake, and encountered the victim very cold but not injured south of the Lake. He was brought out in PB-25, and Team 2 came out on the snowmobiles with Team 4. Responders were: Enright (ops), Gilbreath (ops assistant), LaLande, Aguirre, Bauss, Riggs, Enyeart, Wright, Rosnau, Sollima, L. Frees, Zahn, Harvey, DeGeorge, Tracey, and Greene.

April 13, 1998 - Tracking Training with Greg Enright at Mammoth Creek

April 15, 1998 - Computer Training with Jim Gilbreath at his home.

April 18, 1998 - Snowmobile and Base Camp Setup Training with Dean Rosnau at south end of Smokey Bear Flat at 9 AM. How to drive the Sheriff's machines safely, and how to set up our tent, radio console, power supplies, antennas, etc.

April 19, 1998 - Dive Team Training with Russ Veenker, Jim Endo and Pete DeGeorge at Big Rock Resort in June Lake

April 20, 1998 - Advanced Tracking Training with Greg Enright for those who are not total beginners. Meet at 5:30 PM at Convict Lake. Bring your pack and tracking pole.

April 25, 1998. Boats aground at the Bridgeport Reservoir. This was not an official callout but several team members volunteered to patrol the County on the opening of fishing season. Harvey, Rosnau and DeGeorge donned Stearns suits and helped 822 move three of the stuck boats to deeper water. None of the Fishermen were aware that the wind was blowing them aground until it was too late and one reported that his ‘fish finder’ displayed 40 ft. as he was going aground. Thanks to all who volunteered to help make the opening day safe. Responders were: Aguirre, Greene, Tracey, Bauss, Rosnau, Harvey and DeGeorge.

April 27, 1998 - Basic/advanced Tracking Training with Greg Enright Meet at Rattlesnake (Horseshoe) Curve halfway up Conway Summit at 6 PM. For everybody, experienced or not - regardless of experience.

April 30, 1998 - Climb/Ski descent via Elderberry Canyon with Dean Rosnau at Mt. Tom

Welcome to new Candidate Dan Burnham, who was accepted at the April team meeting.

May

Congratulations to Greg Enright on being the Rotary Club’s 1998 Outstanding Volunteer of the year. Great.

Karen Riggs and her dog are now WOOF candidates and are planning to increase their search training, Good job Karen.

May 4, 1998, 98-xxR Mutual aid Search with Alpine County. Our team was called to help in the search for a woman with health problems who had left home,possibly with a gun. Rosnau responded to the search base and was about to be sent in to the field when the subject was located deceased. Responders were: Rosnau, (Harvey and De George CIR.) Attaboy to Candidates Paul Zahn, Jeremy Newman and Bob Edlund. They were willing to respond but the team policy allows only Members to respond to out of County Operations.

May 5, 1998 - Search Logistics Training with Greg Enright at the team meeting.

May 9, 1998 - Dive Team Training with Jim Endo and Larry Ford at Crowley Lake. Meet at the docks at 9 AM. Every one is welcome even if you don't like the water. Come and practice with the team and raise funds at the same time.

May 9, 1998. 98-14R. Head Injury, Lundy Canyon. While skiing about 4 miles up Lundy Canyon, Chris Kerr fell and slid down a steep slope, and had some symptoms of head injury. Rosnau and Robinson hiked in. Deputy Hallum and a paramedic from Medic 2 went in via snowmobile and extracted the subject who was feeling much better. Responders were: Greene(ops), Rosnau, Robinson, Endo, Nidever, Baker, Aguirre, Enyeart, Zahn, Enright, and DeGeorge.

May 10, 1998. 98-13R. Overdue skier, White Mountains. Responders were: Greene, Harvey, T. LeFever, Rosnau

May 11, 1998 - Ops Leader Training with Greg Enright. Bring notebook and ready pack. Meet at Smokey Bear Flat at 5:30 PM.

May 18, 1998 - Ops Leader Training with Greg Enright at Convict Lake. Bring notebook and ready pack. Meet at 5:30 PM.

May 25-26, 1998-15R. About 1000 on May 24, Jean Ray dropped her husband Don off at Tamarack Lodge for a day of skiing the trails in the lakes basin, and arranged to pick him up at 1600. At 1925 Mrs. Ray reported her husband had not returned.

Phone tree started at 1950 by Gilbreath, SAR team paged out at 1956. Weather was windy, cold, and deteriorating. Four Sheriff snowmobiles plus Dan Wright’s snowmobile were used to transport hasty teams to Lakes Basin, plus searching the Mill City road to Old Mammoth.

All roads searched, plus trails wide enough for snowmobiles, plus foot searches on skis and snowshoes, concentrating on Coldwater area and all the Lake road ends. Some fresh tracks followed at George and Coldwater up as far as Emerald Lake, but the tracks returned to trailheads.

Helicopter from NAS Fallon requested for first light, and teams returned to base at 0230 for rest until 0530, then returned to the Lakes Basin and resumed searching. Gilbreath briefed pilots at airport at 0630, and first search flight began.

MLPD John Mair and Leroy the canine were taken up to search the Coldwater area. Burns and Trapper were waiting for transport when Bill Greene found the subject upside down and evidently deceased in a deep snow crevice next to a toilet building at Horseshoe Lake at 0718. His water and food had not been consumed, and he was not wearing either his hat or gloves, indicating the accident probably occurred during the warm and sunny part of the first day around noon.

810 transported to scene as deputy coroner, and the victim evacuated via sled litter at 1021. Teams extracted and operation terminated at 1130. A Midland 166 radio was lost when it bounced out of Lee Frees’ jacket pocket. Searches for it Sunday night and Monday morning were not successful, and further searching after the operation was terminated due to blizzard conditions. Responders were: Gilbreath (ops), Harvey, Greene, Rosnau, Wright, Edlund, Riggs, L. Frees, Biederman, Czeschin, Enyeart, Case, Bauss, Burns, and Aguirre.

May 26, 1998 - Swiftwater Rescue Training at Pickel meadows with Dean Rosnau and USMC staff. Bring ready pack and all team swiftwater gear and wet/dry suits. Come and train for this challenging aspect of rescue. Meet at the Pickel Meadows Marine Base gate at 8 AM.

June

We received a donation of $500 from Page Leonard’s father, and $40 from United Way.

Congratulations to Greg Enright on being the Rotary Club's 1998 Outstanding Volunteer of the year. Great.

Welcome to new Candidate Carrie Ognibene, who was accepted at the June team meeting.

Karen Riggs and her dog are now WOOF candidates and are planning to increase their search training, Good job Karen.

June 8, 1998 - Rappelling Training at the Twin Lakes outlet "HowardFalls" with Glen Enright. Bring Ready Pack, harness and helmet. Meet at 5:30 PM.

June 11, 1998 - Joint Training with Mammoth Lakes Fire Department with Dean Rosnau/MLFD at Fire Station #1

June 13, 1998 - Technical Rope Rescue Joint Training with Mammoth Lakes Fire Department with Dean Rosnau/MLFD. Meet at the Twin Lakes outlet at 8 AM.

June 15, 1998 - Lowering Systems and Belay Training with Greg Enright. Bring Ready Pack, Harness and helmet Meet at Triple Cracks at 5:30PM.

June 19, 1998 - Dive Team Training with Jim Endo

June 20/21, 1998 WOOF Dog Training at Emma Lakes with Sallee Burns. WOOF invites the team to follow and observe our "mission-ready" search dog teams as well as "candidate" teams doing mock search problems about 15 miles north of Bridgeport. You can arrive any time during the day since we'll be working all day long from about 10:00 on.

Directions: about 15 miles north of Bridgeport, take the Little Walker River Rd (1/2 mi. south of hwy 108). Go about 3 - 3-1/2 miles and look for the WOOF signs and flagging which will lead you to our basecamp. Throughout the day we'll be doing everything from beginning puppy problems through advanced search problems in both wilderness and cadaver. Once in the area you can also reach us on MRA 155.160

June 22, 1998 - Raising Systems Training with Greg Enright. Bring Ready Pack,Harness and Helmet. Meet at Horseshoe Lake at 5:30 PM.

June 27, 1998. 98-16R. Adam Bloom, Chris Benziger, and Greg Silva were skiing the northeast side of Mt. Dana when about 0900 they were hit from behind by an avalanche from the cornice collapsing above them. All three lost consciousness and were carried down the slope by the avalanche.

Victim Benziger regained consciousness and was the least injured. He hiked out on a broken leg and reported the injuries to a park service worker who was driving by. The Team was paged out at approximately 1330, and responded to Tioga Pass gate and met NPS personnel with the NPS contract helicopter H51.

H51 flew in Dean Rosnau and NPS medic Keith Lober. They hiked up 20 minutes from the LZ to the victims. Victim Silva was found to have severe chest injuries as well as severe leg injuries. Victim Bloom had had a tib/fib fracture.

Priority was given to getting Silva to an LZ and to a hospital. Dr. Schweizer from Bishop had been skiing in the area, volunteered his services, and was flown in by H51.

Steve Case and Rich Baerwald were flown in with ropes and a break-apart plastic litter. Gary Guenther and Pete Levy (Mono County paramedic) were flown in with oxygen, IV fluids, and another litter.

NAS Fallon Rescue 7 helicopter arrived and was able to find a closer LZ, and took Silva to Mammoth Hospital. H51 was able to fly victim Bloom to Tioga Pass where he was taken to Mammoth hospital by Medic-2 ambulance.

All teams were flown out except team 4, a ground team of Buass, Greene, and Burnham that was sent in as backup in case the helicopters were unable to effect the rescue. All victims survived, had extensive surgery, and are recovering. Team responders were: Enright (ops), Rosnau, Enyeart, Bause, Burnham, Edlund, Gilbreath, Case, Greene, Guenther, and Rousek.

June 29, 1998 - TESTING on Raising and Lowering Systems Bring Ready Pack, Harness and Helmet. Meet Greg Enright at Triple Cracks at 5:30 PM.

June 30, 1998. 98-17R. Zack Yates and friends were doing acrobatic skiing tricks on a jump they had built just below the Mammoth Crest south of McLeod Lake. Zack landed a complex flip and rotation, but on one leg, which fractured at the boot top.

The team was called out at 1530, and responded initially with 4 members on snowmobiles. Other teams hiked in to assist, including 8 members of Mammoth Lakes Fire Department. The victim was in great pain, but stabilized and lowered to an LZ. CHP helicopter H40 responded, but on final approach for pickup lost fuel pressure and diverted to Mammoth airport.

NAS Fallon SAR helo Rescue 7 was requested, and responded quickly. Ground teams lowered the victim to a better LZ near McLeod Lake, and were ready to carry the victim out when Rescue 7 arrived and flew the victim to Mammoth Hospital at 1922. Team responders were: Little (ops), Burns, Rosnau, Gilbreath, Lee Frees, Greene, Aguirre, Nelson, Bauss, Edlund, Enyeart, and Burmham.

July

Note the recent Mammoth Times article about the Discovery Channel’s upcoming program on floods, featuring the Walker Flood, Sheriff’s video, helicopter rescues of victims and rescuers, and Dean Rosnau. The team stands to receive a donation based on number of minutes on the air.

Last month's two combined training sessions on canyon rescue via Tyrolian Traverse and Telfer Line with the Mammoth Lakes Fire Department went off very well. We learned once again that the Fire Department has some very good and dedicated people that are ready and quite capable of assisting us in many ways. Dean Rosnau, Chief Ritter, and Marty Larsen are planning at least one joint training per quarter. Good idea! The Fire Department also helped us a lot with 8 people hiking in on the McLeod Lake rescue of Zack Yates. Thanks!

Many thanks to Sam Lalande for making a new antenna for use from Ski Patrol at Main Lodge. Pete DeGeorge brought the feed line from San Diego, and Bill Greene and Victor Aguirre helped to install it all. It was VERY useful for a recent search near Minaret Vista.

Thanks to a tip from John Estridge, Inyo National Forest has donated three copies of most of the 7.5 minute maps in our county. Thanks to Bill Greene and Chuck Bauss for folding and cataloging them in Rescue 2 and 3.

Natalie Nelson has completed her Candidate Training Requirements, and was accepted as our newest Rescue Member at the July meeting

July 11, 1998. 98-18R. The team was paged at 1614 to aid Carolyn Vandegrift, who was at Sherwin Lake with a severe and totally disabling migraine attack.

At 1647 Team 1 of Bill Greene and volunteer Curtis Mortensen started hiking up to the victim. One of the victim’s friends hiked up with some pain medication. Because Rescue 3 was in the shop, a litter was brought from Rescue 2 by Rosnau, and was taken in by Harvey, Enright, Rosnau, and Case.

At 1712 Team 1 reached the victim and reported she was better and would try to walk out. All teams accompanied the victim down the trail, and arrived at 1807. She expressed thanks and departed via the RP’s car. Responders were: Rousek (ops), Greene, Harvey, Enright, Aguirre, Case, Rosnau, Edwards, and Bauss.

July 15, 1998. Two employees of Rock Creek Lodge were missing after a dayhike the previous day when they intended to climb both Huntington and Stanford peaks. They were between Huntington and Stanford when daylight died. They were not adequately equipped, and were forced to spend the night without shelter, food, or adequate clothing.

They returned via Mono Pass the next morning, and were found by 812 at the roadhead as the team was enroute. Known responders were: Aguirre, Gilbreath, Greene, Harvey, Rosnau, Rousek, Burnham (RP), and Ognibene.

July 15, 1998. 98-19R. Early in the day, Pete Krohn was taken via packer’s horse to the area between Gem Lake and Alger Lakes. He had enough right flank pain to require stopping enroute several times. Mr. Krohn had been hospitalized for four days about a month ago for the same symptoms. The pain got worse and he was barely able to stand and walk. Help was requested via cell phone to the pack station.

The team was called out and arrived at the SCE power plant at approximately 1600. SCE employees were extremely helpful and took Team 1 and Medic-2 personnel up the lower tram to Agnew Lake, then across Agnew Lake in their boat, then via the upper tram to Gem Lake dam, then across Gem Lake to pick up the victim on a backboard about 200 yards up the Alger Lake trail.

The victim was transported to the power plant via boat and tram, and was taken by Medic-2 to Mammoth Hospital. He was released later in the day. Operation terminated at 1815. Responders were: Gilbreath (ops), Rosnau, Lalande, Burns, Lee Frees, Tracey, Edlund, Aguirre, Greene, Newman, Enyeart, Burnham, and Harvey.

July 15, 1998 (3rd call same day). 98-20R. Karl and Ingeborg Freudenthaler were last seen about 1630 on Wednesday as they departed the lookout at Minaret Vista for a short hike, wearing only shorts and shirts, and walking shoes.

Their son Karl had seen them depart and head west downhill, and was the RP. The team was called out about 2200. Team 1 Rosnau patrolled the road in his truck many times. Team 2 of Rousek and Case, team 3 of Greene and Aguirre, and Team 4 of Enright and Harvey did hasty searching and detailed tracking.

Three tracks were identified and recorded, but no tracks were found that headed out that did not come back. Team 5 of Enyeart in his vehicle patrolled all the dirt roads between Chair 2 and Inyo Craters that were passable. Dog Team A of Burns, Trapper, and Bauss searched the Minaret Summit area.

Helicopter search aid was requested for first light, more WOOF teams requested, mutual aid support from Inyo and China Lake requested, and search support from the Marines at MWTC requested. Teams were called in for rest at 0445 until first light.

Ground teams resumed searching at 0530, and Rescue 7 helicopter from Fallon NAS began searching the ridgeline to the north at 0639. At 0751 Rescue 7 spotted two people, not together, about 2 miles northeast of Minaret Vista. The man was waving a yellow shirt.

Rescue 7 extracted the woman first from dense tall trees via winch, and landed her at Minaret Summit, then went back for the man, but he had moved his position and could not be found before low fuel required flying to Mammoth to refuel.

Upon return, the man was quickly found and also extracted in tall trees via winch (at 0851). Both subjects were unhurt, though cold, and very grateful for their rescue. Responders were: Gilbreath (ops), Harvey, Rosnau, Tracey, Enyeart, Bauss, Burns, Frees, Aguirre, Greene, Rousek, Case, Lalande, Edlund, Little, Riggs, and Baker.

July 18, 1998. 98-21R. RP and victim were hiking together above Green Lake to West lake when victim began feeling very ill. RP ran to the trailhead and drove to a location where his cell phone worked and called 911.

SAR team responded to the trailhead above Geeen Creek campground. Navy Rescue 2 helicopter arrived at the victim at 1630 and dropped a ground team with paramedic below the victim.

The ground team reached the victim about 1700. Another SAR ground team (Rosnau) reached the victim shortly afterward. At 1700 a team of Aguirre, Harvey, Green, and Bauss started in with a wheeled litter as backup to the helicopter evacuation.

The victim was lifted out by Rescue 2 and taken to Bryant Field, then by ambulance to Mono General, and later to Reno via Careflight. Teams were out at 1830. The diagnosis was later stated to be a ruptured ovarian cyst. Responders were: Enright (ops), Aguirre, Bauss, Edwards, Harvey, LaLande, Little, Rosnau, Wright, and Enyeart, Green, Edlund.

July 20, 1998. 98-22R. Natasha Romero was reported missing from the hot tubs near the animal shelter since 0400 hours. The team was called out at 0534. The victim was contacted at her residence at 0645 via Rosnau’s cell phone. Responders were: Rosnau, Harvey, Enyeart, Aguirre, Burns, Bauss, Edlund, Greene, Gilbreath, Rousek, Lalande, McBride, Riggs, Tracey, and Tim LeFever.

July 20, 1998 - Navigation Training with Jim Gilbreath at 1900 at his home. Bring your compass.

July 22, 1998 - Orienteering Test with Jim Gilbreath at 1700 at his home. Bring your compass.

July 23, 1998 - Training Hike - North Peak and Shepherd's Pass with Dean Rosnau at Saddlebag Lake. Bring Ready Pack, Ice Axe, Good Boots, (Crampons Optional)l lunch. This is a casual hike through and above the 20 Lakes Basin. Meet at Saddlebag Lake Store at 0700.

July 26, 1998. 98-23R. Kristi Litman was injured in a horse accident near Badger Lake. She was rescued by helicopter. Details not available. Responders were: Aguirre, Bauss, Burnham, Edlund, Enright, Enyeart, Greene, Harvey, Rosnau, Rousek, Tracey

July 27, 1998 - Cache Training and Remodel with Dean Rosnau at SAR Cache at Gull Lake. Bring Ready Pack. Meet at cache at 1000.

July 29, 1998. 98-24R. Back injury, Mammoth Crest. Responders were: Aguirre, Bauss, Burns, Case, Enyeart, Gilbreath, Greene, Harvey, LaLande, Nelson, Riggs, Rousek, Wright

July 29, 1998 - Dive Team Training with Jim Endo Come even if you do not dive. Meet at Convict lake at 1930

July 31, 1998 - Helicopter and ELT Training with NAS Fallon SAR team and CHP H-40 helicopters. Bring Ready Pack. We will also do an ELT search training. Meet at Mammoth Airport at 0800.

August

August 2, 1998. 98-26R. Gashed knee, 1000 Island Lake. Responders were: Aguirre, Bauss, Burns, Edlund, Enyeart, Gilbreath, Greene, LaLande, Riggs, Rosnau

August 2, 1998. 98-27R. Exhausted hiker, Roosevelt Lake. Responders were: Aguirre, Bauss, Gilbreath, Greene, Harvey, LaLande, Rosnau

August 9, 1998. 98-28R. Kevin McCarthy of San Carlos slipped and slid on snow about 1700 on August 8, near Emerald Lakes, possibly fracturing his left ankle. The team met at June Mtn parking lot. Helo Rescue-6 from NAS Fallon located the subject and flew him to June Mtn parking lot, where Medic-2 transported him to SME. Responders were: Rosnau (ops), Harvey, Riggs, Rousek, Edlund, Greene, and Aguirre.

August 9, 1998. 98-29R. North Peak Rescue.

This one is a real classic. Since the complete story has a lot of value as training, Dean Rosnau’s personal diary report is presented here, edited mainly for length.

Having completed a morning evacuation of a subject with a broken ankle from the 1000 Island Lake area, we were having lunch with the helicopter crew from NAS Fallon in June Lake. I received a call from Sgt. Boe Turner advising me of a call from Inyo Forest Service Wilderness Ranger 11 regarding an injured subject on the north face of North Peak. The subject reportedly had a broken leg and others were screaming for help.

We abandoned lunch and I informed the helo crew that we would need their assistance. They were driven back to the helo which was parked at the June Mountain Ski Area, and lifted off for Mammoth Airport for fuel.

While enroute to the bottom of Tioga Pass, I monitored Forest Service net frequencies that were carrying Wilderness 11's traffic. She was approaching the scene and was relaying information as she received it from the shouts echoing down from the bottom of the north face.

I arrived at Saddlebag Lake marina and began dressing for the mountains and assembling the proper gear. SAR member Joe Rousek was a few minutes behind me and began preparing to go in with me. SAR member Harvey arrived and assumed Operations Leader duty until relieved by Don Little.

I radioed Wilderness 11 to get any additional information she might have. It was clear that the victim was at the base of the left couloir on the north face, and that his condition was quite serious.

Within 10 minutes of our arrival, Joe and I were ready to go in. We boarded the boat at the marina and were ferried across. We took in rope, ice screws, rock hardware, crampons and ice axes, and medical gear.

Upon reaching the north shore of Saddlebag we hiked rapidly to the scene via the trail towards the 20 Lakes Basin, then overland through the boulder field just south of Cascade Lakes. Very quickly we arrived at the base of the steep snowfield and rock wall directly below the victim approximately 600 feet. At this time Fallon Rescue 6 arrived in the area and I guided them to the victims location. They spotted the two people ( Jessica, the victims wife, and Hawk, a witness to the fall) that were with the victim, Eric Schultz, 27, of Tahoe City.

On their second pass, Rescue 6 dropped two smoke bombs to check wind speed and direction on the upper glacier. On their fourth pass they began setting the ship down on the glacier approximately 250 yards above and to the north of the victim.

I continued up the first snowfield and reached the base of the rock wall just north of the cascade. I began climbing the wall finding it to be 4th class with lots of loose scree. Joe was approximately 250 feet behind me. As I neared the top of the rock band, which is about 120 feet high, I could see the three Navy crewmen making their way across steep scree and talus just below the glacier and about 500 feet above me. Their traversing cut loose some suitcase-size rockfall that was heading for me and Rousek down below. Rousek was at the base of the wall and could not see the rocks coming. I shouted warnings to him and he took evasive action. I radioed a warning to the crew above, advising them to use caution lest they kill both of us.

I stepped back across the cascade and began ascending the second ice field. I was now about 250 feet below the victim. I could see the Navy boys were on scene and I began aggressively kicking steps up the ice field.

Joe reached the top of the rock wall safely about 250 feet below me. Teams 2 and 3 were hiking in with the backboard and litter, and I directed them to head for the base of the first snowfield.

As I reached a point about 100 feet below the victim I could see the Fallon crew and Hawk struggling to extricate Eric from a narrow crevasse at the base of the couloir. A scream from Jessica told me things were not going well. I stopped and looked up towards them through my sunglasses that were running with sweat. Pulling off the glasses I could see Jessica standing on a boulder above the crevasse, waving her arms at me, screaming at me to hurry.

I reached the base of the crevasse completely gasping for air. Every face had an expression of terror. They had managed to slide a backboard litter under Eric while in the crevasse, had intubated him, and were struggling to get him out of the very top of the crevasse. The Navy medic told me that Eric had been in full arrest for the past 5 minutes. As I dropped my pack, Eric looked like a severely battered corpse. I grabbed onto the harness Eric had on and pulled as the rest of the crew pulled on the litter. With two heaves, we hauled him onto the rocks at the top of the crevasse.

Jessica was going berserk. I checked Eric's pulse and found nothing. His hands were white, face was blue, with eyes wide open and totally unresponsive. I started chest compressions, with a navy crewman administering breaths. Because of the downhill position I was in, compressions were difficult. The navy crewman and I switched, with me taking over the breathing and him administering compressions. We discovered that the bottle of oxygen had been dropped along the way down from the helo so another crewman went after it.

Joe Rousek arrived on scene and took over radio communication. He advised base to call for Life Flight to meet the patient at Mammoth Hospital. We held all other teams down below, near Cascade Lake.

The Navy medic began preparing an IV line. Within 2 to 3 minutes of CPR, we started getting a faint pulse. We stopped compressions and I continued with rescue breathing. Eric's pulse strengthened. I could see his heartbeat shaking his abdominal muscles. Suddenly his chest began to rise; and he began breathing on his own, though very shallow. His pulse weakened at one point then strengthened once more.

The medic inserted the IV and the oxygen bottle arrived on scene. We hooked up the bottle to the bag and Eric's color began to return. He was still unconscious, but was steadily improving. Jessica managed to calm down and joined us in shouting encouragement to Eric.

We called for the helo to come in and do a hoist extraction, as trying to carry Eric to the glacier LZ would certainly have taken an hour and probably would have killed Eric.

Within a few minutes the helo, which had been idling on the glacier, lifted off and came into a very difficult hover 25 feet over our heads. They spooled down the cable, which swung in the rotor downdraft out over the snowfield behind me. I turned and grabbed it and handed it to the medic to do the clip-in to the litter. I shoved Hawk down into the crevasse for his safety and yelled at Jessica to stay low in the rocks.

With the medic attached and straddling the litter, Eric was hoisted up into the helo. Once aboard, the helo gained 20 more feet of elevation, then turned and headed straight for Saddlebag Lake and off to Mammoth Hospital. Suddenly, it was quiet again.

Jessica completely broke down and I wrapped my arms around her and told her everything was going to be better now that he would be in the hospital within minutes.

We began packing the myriad equipment that was left behind. With the one navy crewman left behind, we carried the gear back to the LZ for pick-up on their return. I continued hiking with Jessica, assisting her with Eric's gear. Rousek stayed with the Navy crewman and Hawk began hiking back down to his camp at the lake.

Jessica was concerned for her two 4-month-old puppies which she had to leave behind when Eric fell. Along with teams 2 and 3, we began a search for the pups. Jessica and I located them on the way down and met up with all other SAR members at the camp at Cascade Lake.

Rescue 6 returned and picked up their crewman and gear and flew back to Fallon. All team members hiked back to the boat dock and were shuttled back to the Saddlebag Marina for dinner. The operation was terminated at 2030 hours. Jessica drove straight to Reno to meet up with her husband who was at Washoe Medical Center by the time we reached the Saddlebag Marina.

Epilogue

Eric Schultz had climbed the left-hand (steepest) couloir on the north face of North Peak with the intent of skiing down it. He had done this in previous years. The couloir is approximately 700 feet long at an elevation of about 12,000 feet, and reaches an angle of 60 degrees. Based on his tracks, he managed to make turns for the first 350 feet. For some reason he lost control, sliding headfirst down the couloir for another 350 feet and hit a truck-sized boulder, then dropped straight into a 7 foot crevasse. The helmet which he was wearing was shattered. His injuries and condition were later determined as follows:

Compression fractures of T4, T6 and C7, collapsed left lung, two broken fingers on the right hand, serious gashes, abrasions and bruises of the entire body except the head. NO HEAD INJURIES! (a miracle, in my opinion). Eric is experiencing paralysis in his lower extremities, and at this time has been transferred to a rehabilitation clinic in Colorado.

Responders were: Little (ops), Rousek, Rosnau, Enright, Harvey, Bauss, Edlund, Greene, and Riggs.

August 14, 1998. 98-30R. Tioga Lake. Anna Gade was hiking to Dana Lakes when she attempted to jump over the creek. When she landed she felt a pop and could not continue. She was evacuated by NPS litter by Medic-2, 816, and Lee Vining Fire personnel, with other local volunteers. Responders were: Rosnau (ops), Endo, Greene, and 5 personnel from Lee Vining Fire.

August 17, 1998. 98-31R. Pulmonary Edema victim near Donahue Pass. Seth Shteir was a member of a National Sierra Club trip that started at Tuolumne Meadows. On August 14, he began feeling poorly, became increasingly weak and distressed, and was ultimately unable to hike at all. Two trip members hiked out for help.

The team assembled at the June Lake power station, then moved to the June Mountain parking lot to await arrival of a Marine rescue helicopter that was fortunately enroute to another mission in Inyo County. This large capacity helo was able to take Team 1 of Rosnau, Nelson, and McBride, plus Medic Endo and the two members of the victim’s party. The victim was treated on-site and evacuated directly to the USFS helipad at Mammoth, then transferred to Mammoth Hospital by Medic-3. Responders were Rosnau, Greene, Aguirre, Nelson, Riggs, Edlund, Lalande, and McBride.

August 18, 1998 - Dive Team Training with Jim Endo. Bring Ready Pack. Come even if you do not dive. Meet at Pokonobe Lodge on Lake Mary at 1000.

August 21 & 22, 1998 - Rosnau's High Angle/Family Car-campout extravaganza! Bring Ready Pack and any personal climbing gear, plus lots of good stuff to eat and drink. We will drill on climbing, rappelling, jumaring, raising, lowering, and generally feeling comfortable at working up high. This wall is 450 feet tall and absolutely a blast. Camping is right at the base of the wall; you can drive right to it. Bring the family! Meet at Granite Basin starting at 0800 Friday or come anytime!

August 24, 1998. Mutual aid to Inyo County. OES requested aid for a search for an overdue climber in the Mt. Lamarck area. Bishop resident Clay Greer fell during a climb of a peak known locally as Suppository Peak near Mt. Lamarck. His body was found by a field team from the Inyo County Posse, and evacuated by NAS Fallon helo. Dean was the only member from our team to be flown in, and helped package and move the victim to the LZ. Responders from Mono were: Rosnau, Aguirre, Harvey, Gilbreath, T. LeFever, and Rousek.

August 25, 1998. 98-32R. Purple Lake. Cora Hussey began suffering from Nausea and muscle cramps 3 days into a backpacking trip with fellow students from Harvey Mudd. At about 1030 she was being carried out near Purple Lake by students, while two party members hiked out to seek help. SAR teams hiked up the Duck Pass trail with a wheeled litter, and met the subject, who was feeling better and was able to walk out with them slowly. Responders were: Greene (ops), Harvey, Rosnau, Bauss, Gilbreath, Aguirre, Wright, LaLande, Riggs, Ognibene, and Burnham.

August 26, 1998. 98-33R. Alger Lakes. David Serrano became ill at a packer camp near Alger Lakes outlet. Notification was made via cellular phone. CHP helicopter H40 was able to locate and pickup the subject unaided, and transported to SME. Responders were: Rosnau (ops), Aguirre, Harvey, Greene, Wright, LaLande, Gilbreath, Riggs, Endo, Burns, and T. LeFever.

August 26, 1998 - Dive Team Training with Jim Endo. Come even if you don't dive. Meet at North Beach on June Lake at 1000.

August 27, 1998. 98-34R. Anona Lake. Joe Peters was walking a log while fishing from shore when he slipped, falling into the water and landing poorly on a submerged rock, breaking his fibula at the ankle and dislocating the ankle joint. Notification was made via a packer’s cellular phone. CHP Helicopter H40 was able to land and with aid from volunteers carried the victim on their backboard about a half mile to the helo, then flew him directly to SME. Responders were: Rosnau (ops), LaLande, Harvey, Aguirre, Wright, Edlund, Gilbreath, and Greene.

September

Many thanks to Terry Padilla, Cole Hampton, and Boe Turner for the excellent BBQ food they cooked up for us at the Granite Basin campout and training. Everyone there had a fun time with the big wall, either climbing or watching. Other than a couple of trailers getting stuck, things went off very well, due in no small part to the advance work and rigging by event organizer Dean Rosnau and several others, including Dave Harvey and Bill Greene.

September 2, 1998. 98-35R. Fallen climber, Banner Peak. Responders were: Aguirre, Greene, Harvey, LaLande, Rosnau, Wright

September 6, 1998. 98-36R. Sergei Kim sustained a leg injury below Ediza Lake. Wilderness Ranger 25 splinted the leg. At approximately 1200 the team was paged to Minaret Vista, and established the base there, while all other team members staged at Agnew Meadows trailhead. 808 advised no helicopter would be available unless the injury was life threatening. At 1505 the teams began the carryout via wheeled litter from about a mile above the Muir Trail junction. No telephone callout had been done, so Jean Gilbreath was contacted to start one. She was unable to get any additional team members, and Mammoth Fire was asked to provide help. Six responded very quickly and took over the litter at 1713 for the last uphill dash. The victim elected to be taken to the hospital at 1805 via POV. Responders were: Aguirre (ops), Harvey, Rosnau, Bauss, Enyeart, Enright, Greene, Wright, and Rousek. Mammoth fire responders were Chief Ritter, DeGrafenreid, Salzmann, Picciano, Baker, and Myrold. Thanks guys!

September 12, 1998. 98-37R. About 1930, the team was called with info from a cellular call that Edward Cunningham, a member of a pack group had severe altitude sickness, difficulty breathing, and racing pulse at a camp near Clark Lakes. Rescue Base was established at Minaret Vista, and Team 1 of Bill Greene and Chuck Bauss hiked in via the high trail from Agnew Meadows. They reached the victim at 0030, and stayed with him through the night. Medical advice was obtained from SME and his condition improved. By 0430 his condition was greatly improved. At 0830 the victim began evacuation via packer’s horse. Team 1 hiked to the Frontier Pack Station at Silver Lake at 1320 and the operation was terminated. Responders were: Harvey (ops), Greene, DeGeorge, and Aguirre.

September 17, 1998 - Search Logistics Training with Greg Enright and Mammoth Lakes Fire Department. Bring Ready Pack and note pad. This will be a joint training with Mammoth Fire. Meet at Mammoth Fire station #1 at 1900. Dinner provided.

September 19, 1998 - Search Training with Greg Enright and Mammoth Lakes Fire Department. Bring Ready Pack. Practical training with Mammoth Fire. Meet at Horseshoe Lake parking lot at 0800.

Dave Harvey has again done a marvelous job to line up lots of fantastic prizes for our annual team raffle, which will be held in conjunction with the elementary school ski swap on September 20 in the Kittredge parking lot from noon to 4 PM.

October

Congratulations to Chuck Bauss, who finished all his Candidate ladder requirements in near minimum time (almost exactly one year), and was voted by the team to be our newest Rescue Member. Well done, Chuck.

Welcome to Brent Salzmann and Jim Voss, who were accepted as new Candidate Members at the October meeting. We have worked with Brent as a member of the Fire Department. Jim has been a military SAR helicopter pilot. We're looking forward to them being a vital part of the team.

Thanks to Michelle Tracey for organizing the Team’s display at the Health Fair. Thanks also to Steve Case and Bruce Enyeart.

With the recent roster changes, we now have 21 Rescue Members, and 18 Candidate Members.

Dave Harvey reported the annual team swap meet and raffle was very successful, with about $3000 raised. The Rotary Club, the June Lake Women’s Club, Mammoth Mountain, and Intrawest have also been major supporters of our team.

We received a nice donation from Dr. Curt Schweizer, who helped us so greatly on the Mt. Dana 3-victim rescue. We received contributions of $2600 from Mammoth Rotary, $1500 from Intrawest, $300 from Sergei Kim (Ediza carryout), $100 from Harvey Mudd College (Duck Pass walkout).

October 19, 1998. 98-38R. Float tuber, Crowley Lake. No further information available.

October 26, 1998. 98-39R. White Mt. Peak. Greg Houck, Michael Ariaz, and Bill Theobald parked their vehicles at the road closure at 12,000 feet below the Barcroft Lab on White Mountain Peak and began hiking toward the summit at about 0930. In about three hours Bill’s legs were tired and sore, and he started back, having agreed with the others that they would turn around at 1400 at the latest. Winds rose and snow began falling about 1430, with near-whiteout conditions. Bill hiked to Barcroft Lab and was welcomed by Ed Cereda, the site manager.

The others did not return by dark. Ed did a 4WD trip up the road toward the peak as far as he could go, and turned on the observatory lights as a beacon. Bill stayed the night in a bunk at the lab. During the night, winds were 70 Mph, and the temperature was 10 degrees. After checking the area in early morning, Ed called 911 about 0700.

The team was called out at 0730 with cautions to bring winter gear and plenty of gasoline. Road conditions were difficult above about 9000 feet, with blowing snow and drifts up to several feet. Several of our 4WD vehicles got stuck and had to be shoveled and pulled out. Rescue 3 and trailer were left at the visitor center parking lot. LeFever and Rosnau arrived first at Barcroft Lab, and at 1105 began a hasty search up the road toward the summit, in sunshine for a short while.

Chuck Bauss ferried six people and gear to Barcroft with his new Ford truck, which handled the snow very well. All responders were at Barcroft at 12,470’ by 1230, and were briefed by Gary Guenther, Ed, and Bill. The antenna and mast were put up, and Bill Greene’s new mobile radio was used in cross-band repeater mode, controlled from inside the lab via Victor Aguirre’s UHF handheld radio.

Weather deteriorated. A Blackhawk helicopter that had been at Bishop had to return to base. CHP air support was requested and was enroute at 1330, and the RAID FLIR helicopter was requested from Stead AFB.

At 1350 the subjects were reported alive and in good condition at White Mountain Ranch near Dyer Nevada. Several members went out to assist Team 1 back to base. The team was afforded wonderful hospitality and food by Ed Cereda. Everyone returned at 1603, the operation was shut down, and all vehicles caravanned down to Route 168. Bill went to Dyer to pick up his friends at Esmeralda Market, and the team went to Bishop for dinner at 1930.

A late night interview with the subjects revealed the following: Greg and Michael reached the White Mountain Peak summit about 1345, in clouds, but no snow. Shortly after, the wind and storm began, and they followed the road back to the saddle area before losing it. They had no map, compass, lights, matches, or gaiters, and no idea which direction to go to get to Barcroft.

They huddled behind a rock outcropping for a half hour until they began getting hypothermic, then decided to go downhill toward the west and Owens Valley. They thought they were going into Silver Canyon, but actually they went east, probably into McAfee Canyon, which was a very fortunate error.

They climbed into a tree for shelter for a half hour, then continued downhill for several hours. They found a large log and made a shelter behind it with pine branches, and huddled there for two hours until daybreak. They continued on down for several hours and eventually found a trail, which they followed to White Mountain Ranch, where they were welcomed by the residents, and made telephone calls to us at Barcroft. They could not arrange a ride to Bishop, but got a ride to Dyer to be picked up later. Responders were: LeFever, Rosnau, Greene, Bauss, Aguirre, Rousek, Gilbreath, Newman, Harvey, and Guenther.

October 31, 1998 - Rock Climbing Training with Dean Rosnau at Owens Gorge.

November

The new officers for 1999 are:

President - Dave Harvey
Vice President - Dean Rosnau
Secretary - Bill Greene
Treasurer - Victor Aguirre
Equipment Officer - Joe Rousek
Training Officer - Chuck Bauss

Welcome to Noreen McClintock and Laird Maresch, who were accepted as new Candidate Members at the November meeting.

We received contributions of $500 from the June Lake Women’s Club and $500 from Greg Silvi, one of the Mt. Dana victims. Greg has indicated that he would like to come to Mammoth next summer to do a BBQ as a thank you to the Team!

November 3, 1998 - Van Training with Victor Aguirre and Bill Greene at the team meeting.

November 3, 1998 - Radio Training with Jim Gilbreath at the team meeting.

November 14, 1998 - Area Familiarization Hike with Dean Rosnau at Lundy Canyon. Bring Ready Pack, Food and water, any specialized equipment needed for existing snow conditions (e.g. boots and gaiters, snowshoes or skis.) Meet at the road closure on Lundy Canyon Road at 1000. Dean Rosnau, Victor Aguirre, Chuck Bauss, and Bill Greene attended the Lundy Canyon hike. The road was closed just before the dam, so the hike was up the mine road on the south side of the lake.

November 22, 1998 - Night ELT Search Training with Dean Rosnau? at Deadman Summit. Bring Ready Pack, over the snow gear as needed, Thermos of hot drinks, headlamp. Meet at Glass Flow Road parking area at 5:30 PM. Night ELT training was well attended. Three teams were sent into the field to find the transponder, which was initially triangulated to be near the north side of Obsidian Dome. It was slow going for the field teams due to the lack of light, terrain, and snow conditions - very different from a day ELT search. The "survivor" of the crash (Dean Rosnau) was found up a tree on a portaledge.

There were no operations in November 1998.

December

December 1, 1998 - Pieps Avalanche Transceiver Training with Dean Rosnau? at team meeting in June Lake at 7 PM. Bring Ready Pack and receivers from Rescue 3.

There were no operations in December 1998.

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