HighpointersHere’s a story about the helicopters that landed army personnel on the Whitney trail after a flash flood stranded 60 hikers on July 29. The hikers and army personnel eventually were able to hike out (although there was one hypothermia case).
Here’s the official park service report. It’s an amazing story of matching hikers with equipment that had been abandoned.
A Eurocopter AS350 B3 was involved in one of the highest-altitude rescues on record in May when it rescued an injured climber off Alaska’s Mount McKinley just below the summit at 19,833 feet.
Three helicopter rescues involved 37-year-old Zeljko Dulic of Serbia at 19,300 airlifted off the mountain in the “screamer suit” (line attached to helicopter), 22-year-old Sho Tamagawa of Japan (rescued same time as Dulc) and 20-year-old Masaaki Kobayasi of Japan who was unconscious at 18,700 feet.
All three suffered from altitude sickness.
A man who broke his leg while descending Mount McKinley was rescued in what is tied to be the highest rescue on Mount McKinley.
A snowboarder disoriented on Mount Hood had to be rescued by helicopter.
Sean McCarthy, 17, was airlifted off Mount Washington after he fell about two-thirds of the way up the headwall on Huntington Ravine.
Lucio Barajas was airlifted off Mount Hood after breaking his leg on July 26.
Dan Frye, a member of WLBZ-TV fell 10-12 feet off the Knife Edge on Katahdin and was airlifted off the mountain by the Maine Army National Guard Blackhawk medivac helicopter from the 126th National Guard Medivac Unit on July 15
Two Fort Wainwright army helicopters were called to rescue a mountaineer on a guided Denali Climber who was acting “eratically.” The Park Service helicopter normally used in rescues was deemed unsafe for such a situation. The Park Service reported they have never encountered such a situation.
Details released subsequently said the climber wanted to paraglide off the summit (although he signed an affidavit saying he wouldn’t). Climbers on the West Bustress told park officials of unsafe glacier travel, lack of appropriate gear, littering and strange mannerisms. He was being treated for hypothermia at the 14,200 foot camp when officials discovered the paraglider in his sled. He was was strapped on a backboard and transported by Alaska State Troopers to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital where he was released after spending a night.
The 25-year-old climber Andrew Randolph is from Pennsylvania and said he was being discriminated against because he was climbing solo. The government is considering billing him for the rescue.
A slab avalanche on Mount Rainier on June 5 hit 11 climbers on the Ingraham Direct Route. 10 of the climbers were rescued. The 11th climber was not registered to climb. A US Army Reserve Helicopter from Fort Lewis removed 2 climbers and six rescuers. The avalanche 100 – 200 yards wide and 1-2 meters deep started at 12,500 feet in elevation and traveled to about 11,200 feet in elevation. Guides from International Mountain Guides and Rainier Mountaineering, Incorporated helped rescue the 10. The missing climber was identified as Mark Wedeven,