This one is from the helicopter looking down at an ultralight aircraft that crashed up near Fox Creek Pass. The pilot survived; we picked him up after he activated his Spot beacon. You can barely see the crashed plan near the patch of snow in the middle of the picture.
Here's a picture of a guy stuck on the Grandstand (12,000ft on the Grand Teton). You can see him standing out against the snow at the base of the snow patch.
Picture of the pilot on the Grandstand rescue.
Here's another picture of the Grandstand area.
That's me on the end of the orange rope being inserted to the Grandstand. I nabbed the climber and then short-hauled him back down to the valley right before dark.
Here's a different rescue up in Garnet Canyon. On this one a climber slipped 100 feet down a steep snow patch and slammed into the rocks suffering a pretty substantial injury.
Lowering the patient down a snow slope.
Moving the patient over talus (I've got the orange helmet).
Packaging the patient for transport.
Those are 3 of the missions I've been on, but there were many more. Not pictured are the two body recoveries I went on; one of a climber who fell 2,500 feet off the Grand, and the other of a backpacker who was crushed by a falling tree. Also not pictured was the rescue of a skier who fell 800 feet down the Ellingwood Couloir and had very serious injuries, or the rescue of girl that fell 30 feet onto a ledge on a rock climb and sustained multiple injuries.
Lot's of carnage. It definitely gives you a firsthand knowledge of what can go wrong in the mountains. It is apparent to me though that each of these rescues has a major contributing factor, and that the accidents are almost always brought about by human error. It's not like people are doing everything right and then get struck by a rock out of the blue. More often, people make poor decisions such as getting off route, climbing routes above their abilities, failing to bring proper equipment or know how to use it, etc...
Working all these rescues has been really challenging and fulfilling. I love it. It does take a toll after a while to see a lot of carnage though.
5 comments:
amazing!
That is why I went so slow on that snowfield- I had a major fear of slamming into rocks! Hope that person is ok. What a summer. The Tetons are no joke! Awesome photos!
Thanks for sharing Brian. Glad they gave you long enough of a break to make some blog posts. This reminds me of my days in search and rescue... except I wasn't allowed on the "high-angle" stuff and by the time I was finally certified for high-angle rescue, I moved on (to college). I hope to get involved again as a volunteer somewhere somehow and provide some perspective as a physician. If you ever have questions about some of the injuries you see and want my input, let me know!
That photo of the guy on the Grandstand is wicked, and you getting lowered, even better. Really shows how much erosion is going on up there. Wow!
Brian -- this was the neatest post ever! So sad about the body recoveries, but your detailed descriptions of the rescues are really inspirational! I LOVE the pictures. I am so impressed that you can hang so far below a helicopter and somehow insert to where they are. You are as brave as they come! Congratulations and kudos to completing another strenuous summer in the Tetons!
Man, thanks for sharing. I want to know so much more! What a crazy year!
Also, glad to see you finally made it to the Grandstand (I don't care if you've already done it or not- we still have a date for the North Ridge one day.)
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