November 25-26, 2019 #51

On the evening of Monday, November 25, the Team was called to assist a hiker stranded above cliffs in the Cottonwood Creek drainage. The Team elected to postpone response until the following morning as it was already dark by the time the call came in.

The Team responded to Bolthouse Farms in Hammil Valley. Six team members were transported to the end of the access road via 4-wheel drive pickup and Polaris Ranger 6-wheeler. One field team (Team 2) of two began ascending the ridge dividing Willow Creek and Cottonwood Creek. The other field team (Team 1), with four members, began ascending Cottonwood Canyon.

Cottonwood Canyon soon became impassable due to narrow constrictions with vertical side walls with the creek running along the bottom, partly frozen. The field team left the bottom of the canyon to attempt to attempt to avoid the impassable sections of the canyon. One member of field team 1 was injured by rockfall, and exited the area with assistance from another team member.

In the depths of Cottonwood Canyon.

Field team 2 and the remainder of field team 1 met on the ridge above the canyon, and then new location information was provided by the hiker’s Inreach unit. The uninjured hiker was located soon thereafter near the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon, and he was driven back to Rescue Base.

A member of field team 1 high on the ridge above Cottonwood Canyon (team member just left of center in a white helmet).

IC: Pelichowski Ops Leader: Beck/Kaufman Responders: Thompson, Senior, Patterson, Hodges

On the ridge above Cottonwood Canyon with Hammil Valley and the Sierra in the background.

November 9, 2019 #50

On the afternoon of November 9, the Sheriff’s Office contacted the Team concerning a hiker who had become confused about his location. A Sheriff’s Deputy responded and was able to make voice contact, but wasn’t sure he would be able to extract the hiker. A limited team callout was initiated, but was cancelled prior to the Team’s arrival at the trailhead, as the hiker was able to exit unassisted.

IC: Pelichowski. Responders: Buchanan, Evans, Quiring

November 3, 2019 #49

On Sunday morning, November 3rd, at 11:44 am, the Team was called to assist in the recovery of a female motorist who had departed the roadway on Highway 120 West. The motorist had started her journey possibly on October 30, and was reported overdue on November 2nd, and her vehicle was located on November 3rd. The motorist was unfortunately deceased as her car had left the roadway and was approximately 450’ down the embankment.

Image by B. Beck

A field team descended, packaged the motorist, and a technical raise transported the field team and the litter uphill to the roadway. The Sheriff-Coroner took custody of the motorist.

Accident site. Image by E. Kaufman

IC: Pelichowski. Ops Leader: Hammack, L. Responders: Beck, Buchanan, Case, Endo, Evans, Kaufman, Patterson, Pavlovsky, Senior.

October 28-30, 2019 #48

On Monday morning, October 28, the Mono County Sheriff’s Office was advised of an overdue party of two females that had the stated intention of climbing the Red Slate Couloir on Red Slate Mountain, at 13,140’ elevation. The reporting party stated that they were going to investigate, and to delay SAR deployment. Later in the afternoon, the reporting party requested MOSAR assistance.

Red Slate Mountain, with Red Slate Couloir the left-leaning snow/ice strip running from the snowfield to near the summit.

Air resources were requested by the Sheriff’s Office, and a CHP helicopter made a reconnaisance flight and located two climbers in the couloir, approximately 600’ feet up, and reported that no movement was noted. A MOSAR ground team hiked to the couloir entry, and made similar observations. The ground team returned to base due to the late hour.

On Tuesday October 29 at approximately 9:30 am, MOSAR field teams were flown in to the base of the couloir near Constance Lake in a CH-47 Chinook. The helicopter attempted a hoist lowering to the subject’s location, but found their hoist cable to be too short for the sketchy and hazardous conditions encountered, with continued risk of rockfall in the couloir.

CH-47 Chinook off-loading the field teams at the base of Red Slate Couloir.

One team of 3 began an ascent of the Red Slate Couloir, and found reasonable conditions for the first 2 pitches with consolidated neve that held ice tools and ice screws well. The third pitch conditions were found to be bulletproof ice that required strenuous effort to achieve solid ice tool placements, and was tenous and exacting climbing. Ice screws were leap-frogged along the way to keep the fall risk acceptable with a limited amount of hardware. Pitch four was marginally better.

Climbing Red Slate Couloir to reach the subject’s location.

The climbing team reached the subjects late in the afternoon, and determined that they were deceased, most probably hit by large rockfall at the belay. By that time the CH-47 had returned to base due to high winds and encroaching darkness. The climbing team determined that they did not have adequate time to affect a recovery, and abseiled the route and rejoined the other ground team.

The field teams collected all of the gear and began the long hike out, arriving back at Rescue Base early in the morning. Assistance with the recovery was requested from Yosemite Search and Rescue due to their contract helicopter and expertise with short-hauling.

On Wednesday, October 30, YOSAR was able to reach the subjects with helicopter 551, and transport them to the base of the couloir. They reconfigured their airship and transported the subjects from the base of the couloir to Mammoth-Yosemite Airport for the Coroner investigation.

IC: Pelichowski. Ops Leader: Buchanan. Reponders: Creager, Hammack, L, Senior, Hartstrom, Quiring, Patterson, Knight, Thompson, Gilbreath, Hodges, Mulligan, Pavlovsky, Anderson, Godshalk.

October 15, 2019 #47

On Tuesday, October 15 at 9:30 am, the Sheriff’s Office received a request for mutual aid from Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR). YOSAR was requesting assistance in a search for a missing 65-year-old female near the Park’s northern boundary. The subject was located soon after the request, and the call was terminated at 1:03 pm.

IC: Sheriff’s Office

September 29, 2019 #46

On Sunday September 29 at 12:51 pm, the Team responded to a request for assistance from a pair of hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail near Leavitt Lake. The hikers found an unresponsive male lying on the trail. They initiated CPR and called for assistance.

Two field teams responded to the location, but upon their arrival it was determined that the subject was deceased. The remains were packaged and transported to the U.S. Highway 108 and Leavitt Lake Road intersection, and were remanded to the Tuolumne County Coroner, as the incident location was just inside the Tuolumne County line.

IC: Pelichowski. Ops Leader: Hammack, L. Responders: Creager, Hansen, T, Kallemeyn, Hartstrom, Knight

September 27, 2019 #45

On the afternoon of September 27, 2019, it was reported to the Mono County Sheriff’s Office that the 84 pound hiking companion of an elderly couple near Cooney Lake had injured his foot, and the foot could no longer bear weight.

A deputy from the Mono County Sheriff’s Office and a MOSAR team member responded with a wheeled litter and transported the subject to the trailhead at Virginia Lakes. The reporting party transported the subject via POV for treatment of his injuries.

IC: Pelichowski. Ops Leader: Hammack, L

September 17, 2019 #44

On September 17, 2019, at 5:04 pm, the Team was requested to respond to assist a 71-year-old female with leg lacerations in Lundy Canyon. Field teams departed the Lundy Canyon trailhead just west of Lundy Lake and located the subject on the trail.

The subject was treated, packaged, and loaded into the wheeled litter, and then transported to the trailhead in the wheeled litter. She declined further medical attention, and opted to transport to Mammoth Hospital via personal vehicle to seek treatment. The call concluded at 7 pm.

IC: Pelichowski. Ops Leader: Buchanan. Responders: Quiring, Kaufman, Bush, Patterson, Hartstrom, Creager, Cucura, Senior, Anderson

September 13, 2019 #43

On Friday, September 13, at 4:18 pm, the Team was requested to assist a 57-year-old female with a lower leg injury near Crystal Lake. Three field teams responded from Wood’s Lodge, and located the subject about 45 minutes later. The subject was treated, packaged, and transported via wheeled litter back to Wood’s Lodge.

Above lake George. Image by J. Bush

Rolling the litter down the Crystal Lake trail above Lake George. Image by D. Firer

The subject was transferred from the care of the Team to Mono County Medics, who transported her to Mammoth Hospital. The operation was terminated at 7:20 pm.

IC: Minder. Ops Leader: Pavlovsky/Bush. Responders: Evans, Cucura, Firer, Kaufman, Senior, Torrence

September 11, 2019 #42

On Wednesday, September 11, at 2 am, the Team was requested to assist in the search for an 88-year-old male subject with dementia, last seen at a condominium in the Snowcreek I/II/III development. Mammoth Lakes Police Department was coordinating the search, and mixed field teams of officers and SAR team members searched the area.

Upon inquiry, Mammoth Hospital stated that a person matching the description of the subject had been delivered to the hospital, but he had since left. The focus of the search was moved to Mammoth Hospital, and the subject was located soon thereafter sitting in an unlocked vehicle in the Mammoth Hospital parking lot. This operation concluded at 4:19 am.

IC: MLPD. Ops Leader: Beck. Responders: Creager, Kaufman, Knight, Evans, Buchanan, Hartstrom, Patterson

September 9, 2019 #41

On Monday, September 9 at approximately 9:45 am, the Team was advised of a male climber with a lower leg injury at the base of the Incredible Hulk in Little Slide Canyon. Rescue Base was staged at Mono Village, and field teams were dispatched from this location. CHP H40 was requested due to the difficulty of litter carry-outs in Litlle Slide Canyon, particularly in the absence of snow cover.

CHP H40 arrived at the accident locations ahead of the field teams, and was able to extract the subject and fly him to Bridgeport Metropolitan Airport, where the subject care was transferred to Mono County medics. The operation was terminated at 2:19 pm.

IC: Hansen. Ops Leader: Hammack/Buchanan. Responders: Evans, Kallemeyn, Leyen, Kaufman, Blackman

August 28-29, 2019 #40

At 9:31 pm on Wednesday, August 28, the Team received a report of a hiker who had fallen off the side of the stairs that approach Rainbow Falls. It was reported that the hiker had been seated, and when he attempted to stand, he was dizzy, lost his balance, and fell backward over the edge. A witness estimated his fall to be 30-40 feet, on mostly vertical terrain. The extent of injuries was unknown.

Packaging the subject for transport. Image by J. Bush

Field teams made the short hike to the subject’s location, stabilized him, packaged him in a full-body vacuum splint, and them transported him in a wheeled litter. Upon arrival at the trailhead, subject care was transferred to Mono County Medics, who then transported the subject to Mammoth Hospital. It was learned later in the day of August 29 that the hiker had escaped with very minor injuries, and was released from Mammoth Hospital.

Moving the subject from the SAR litter to the medic’s gurney. Image by J. Bush

IC: None. Ops Leader: Thompson/Bush. Reponders: Buchanan, Carlson, Evans, Kaufman, Patterson, Pavlovsky, Quiring, Senior, Torrence.

August 28, 2019 #39

At 5:41 pm on Wednesday, August 28, the Team received a report of a 29-year-old male climber who had taken a lead fall on the Red Dihedral of the Incredible Hulk. The lead fall occurred around 10 am and resulted in a fractured ankle. The climber and his partner were able to self-rescue from the wall, and then the subject began working his way out through the talus and large blocks toward the use trail with assistance from his climbing partner.

A pair of climbers descending overtook the subject, and stopped to render assistance. They were able to construct a carrier from a climbing rope, and carried the injured climber on their backs. Eventually they tired, and called for assistance.

The Team responded to Mono Village, and two field teams hiked in with a wheeled litter. The group was encountered less than a mile from the trailhead, and the subject was splinted and packaged into the litter. The litter was rolled out to the trailhead, and the subject was transported via personal vehicle to Mammoth Hospital for treatment. The field teams arrived at the trailhead at approximately 8:45 pm.

Assembling the 2-piece litter in preparation for wheel attachment. Image by J. Bush

Preparing to load our subject into the wheeled litter for transport. Image by J. Bush

Transporting our subject toward the trailhead. The image is blurry due to the speed of the litter team on the trail. Image by B. Beck

IC: Hansen. Ops Leaders: Beck/Torrence. Responders: Buchanan, Bush, Creager, Evans, Godshalk, Hartstrom, Hodges, Kaufman, Patterson, Pavlovsky, Quiring, Senior

August 26-27, 2019 #38

At approximately 7 pm on August 26, 2019, the Team was requested by Mammoth Lakes PD to assist with an evidence search. 3 field teams searched the vicinity of 357 Grindelwald, in the Mammoth Knolls, the location of suspected arson. The field teams completed one pass up and down a steep pumice slope in search of evidence, a reported gasoline can, prior to darkness.

Evidence Search in the brush. Image by J. Bush

The suspected arsonist reported that he went up to the top of the hill to watch the sunrise and left a gas can somewhere along the way. The search was postponed at darkness, and resumed briefly on the morning of August 27, 2019.

No evidence here… Image by J. Bush

Or here. Image by J. Bush

IC: D. Hansen. Ops Leader: Bush. Responders: Quiring, Evans, Knight, Buchanan, Patterson, Godshalk, Wallace, Endo, Cucura, Anderson, Senior

August 17, 2019 #37

At 10:23 pm on Saturday, August 17, the team was called for two 18-year-old overdue hikers who had intended to summit Mt. Conness. They had called in at approximately 2 pm and reported that they were near the summit at that time. They had expected to be back by 6 pm, 7 pm at the latest, but by their stated return time there had been no further contact. As the Team began response, the overdue hikers showed up at the trailhead in good condition, having taken a while longer to complete their trek than expected. IC: Hansen. Ops Leader: Beck. Responders: Evans, Fernandez, Wallace, Kaufman, Creager, Dunne, Torrence

August 16, 2019 #36

On Friday, August 16 at 4:38 pm, the Team received a report of a missing 9-year-old girl, last seen near Badger Lake. The Team prepared to send field teams out from Agnew Meadows and Rush Creek, but shortly thereafter there were reports from the trail that the girl had been located near the dam on Gem Lake, a considerable distance from her place last seen (PLS). CHP H 40 was able to land nearby and pick up the girl, and deliver her to the June Mountain Ski Area parking lot. IC: Pelichowsky. No Ops Leader. Responders: Hartstrom, Wallace, Quiring, Fernandez

August 14, 2019 #35

At 1:01 pm on Wednesday, August 14, the Team received a report of a 15-year-old male with a diabetic emergency between Barney Lake and Peeler Lake, above Twin Lakes Bridgeport. The Team responded to the Barney Lake trailhead, and assistance was requested from CHP H40.

CHP H40 was able to respond quickly, and extracted the subject, and delivered him to a waiting medic unit at Mono Village. The subject was transported to Mammoth Hospital for treatment.

Mono Village meadow LZ. Image by M. Quiring

IC: Pelichowsky. Ops Leader: Beck. Responders: Hammack, L, Patterson, Quiring, Buchanan, Wallace, Cucura, Torrence, Dunne, Firer, Evans.

August 13, 2019 #34

On August 13, 2019, the Team received a report of a 68-year-old male who had activated an SOS on a satellite device for general malaise, lethargy, and other symptoms of AMS near Agnew Lake. The Team responded to the Rush Creek Trailhead.

Two field teams left the trailhead in anticipation of a litter carryout, but Field Team 1 located the subject and his traveling companion on the trail below Agnew Lake where they were slowly advancing down the trail. Field Team 1 escorted the subject down the trail, meeting with Field Team 2. All field teams and the subject and his companion walked under their own power to the trailhead. A Mono County medic unit transported the subject to Mammoth Hospital for treatment.

Enjoying the Rush Creek Trail on a warm afternoon. Image by M. Quiring

IC: Hansen. Ops Leader: Wallace. Responders: Blackman, Buchanan, Cowan, Creager, Cucura, Evans, Knight, Quiring.

August 12-13, 2019 #33

On Monday, August 12, 2019, at 11:59 pm, the Team received a report of an SOS activation from a one-way Spot device (the device could not accept incoming messages) that was registered to an 87-year-old male. None of the emergency numbers provided for the Spot device was answered.

The device indicated that the location was near the shore of Greenstone Lake, just west of Saddlebag Lake. The Mono County Sheriff’s Office provided a boat and a deputy to pilot, and transported the field teams across Saddlebag Lake.

On the boat ride across Saddlebag Lake inbound to our subject. Image by B. Beck

The subject was located, and his wife reported that he had suffered seizures, and the subject complained of muscle cramping. The subject was assessed, and transported to the shore of Saddlebag Lake via wheeled litter, and then by Sheriff’s Office boat to the Saddlebag Lake Resort, where he was transferred to the care of Mono County Medics. The medics transported the subject to Mammoth Hospital.

Rolling the litter down the dark and quiet trail back to the lake and the return boat ride. Image by B. Beck

Team debrief after the medics accepted responsibility for our subject. Image by B. Beck

IC: Pelichowsky. Ops Leader: Beck, Torrence. Responders: Carlson, Creager, Evans, Kallemeyn, Mulligan, Quiring, and Wallace.

August 11, 2019 #32

On August 11, 2019, at approximately 2:37 am, the Team received a report of a 37-year-old male with a lower leg injury near Cascade Lake. The Team responded to Saddlebag Lake, and from there hiked in with the wheeled litter to Cascade Lake.

The subject was assessed, packaged in the litter, and transported back to Saddlebag Lake via wheeled litter.

Transportation across Saddlebag Lake provided by the Mono County Sheriff’s Office boat. Image by M. Quiring

IC: Pelichowsky. Ops Leader: Hammack, L. Responders: Pavlovsky, Quiring, Kaufman, Evans, Case