3 Successful SAR Incidents by Inyo SAR 7/125-7/16

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maverick
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3 Successful SAR Incidents by Inyo SAR 7/125-7/16

Post by maverick »

Inyo Co. SAR:

The weekend of July 15th and July 16th Inyo County Search and Rescue team participated in three successful high-altitude rescue missions.

The first SAR mission involved a man stuck on a cliff near Dragon Peak, above Independence. While descending a steep rocky chute near the peak the evening of Saturday July 15th, the subject became irreversibly stuck on a small ledge and had no warm clothes or survival equipment because his backpack had fallen down the cliff earlier. Two Inyo SAR members hiked through the night on Saturday to his location, arriving at the base of the cliff at 3:30 AM. In the dark, the rescue team climbed about 75 feet of technical rock using climbing equipment and lowered the hiker to a snow field. The subject was cold but uninjured, and was able to hike out with the SAR team to the trailhead.

The second rescue mission was an injured hiker on the north fork of Whitney near Boy Scout Lake on Sunday. A male subject had fallen while hiking Mt. Whitney, injuring his back. The California Highway Patrol Central Division Air Operations H-40 helicopter crew was able to land and evacuate the injured hiker to safety.

The last mission over the weekend was an injured male paraglider on the side of Mt. Tom near Bishop. The victim crashed into the side of the mountain while flying, sustaining serious trauma and multiple broken bones. The CHP H-40 helicopter (already on the Eastside assisting with the Mt. Whitney mission) inserted an Inyo SAR member at the base of Mt. Tom to hike in and provide medical care. However, due to the heat H-40 was unable to fly to the crash site. Late in the afternoon, a Chinook helicopter from the California Army National Guard flew from Stockton, and was able to successfully hoist the victim and the rescuer from the crash location.

Inyo SAR and the Inyo County Sheriff's Office would like to thank the CHP – Central Division Air Operations crew and the California Army National Guard for their professionalism and skill while aiding in the weekend’s missions.
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Re: 3 Successful SAR Incidents by Inyo SAR 7/125-7/16

Post by ppolischuk »

An account from the paraglider: https://www.instagram.com/p/BW0V-illKnk/
I've already been fortunate to spend a long life in the mountains, and I've been lucky to walk away from a lot of close calls, but unfortunately my luck ran out. On Sunday July 16th, around 9:30 am, I crashed my Paraglider close to the summit of Mt. Tom outside of Bishop, CA. I was attempting a hike and fly mission, conditions were kind of rough, and I was plucked at launch and quickly slammed into a talus field not too far below take off. Fortunately, fellow pilot, @cruzmclean_ hadn't taken off yet and was first to the sight. He was able to coordinate a rescue and at 12:15 Inyo Search and Rescue arrived in an AStar with @95percentjoel aboard, landing 1000ft below my position. Joel hiked to me and was an absolute lifesaver. Unfortunately the talus field that I landed in was so steep that they weren't able to long line me out and the heli was not able to perform an extraction. We waited another 6 hours for the U.S. Army to arrive in a chinook from Stockton. Those 8 hours, laying in the talus, were some of the toughest, most painful moments of my life. At 6:45pm I was long lined out and taken to Bishop CA for medical treatment. After a short assessment it was clear that I needed to be air-ambulanced to Reno, NV for intensive trauma care. After initial scans I went into surgery. I broke bones in both arms, and have hairline fractures in my ribs, back and pelvis. Miraculously none of these breaks are that serious and my Doctors expect a full recovery in 6-8weeks. Crazy, I know.
My recovery has just begun and I'm hoping that this accident is just a speed bump in my career as a mountain athlete. I hope to see everyone on the trails, at the cliffs and in the sky sometime soon. Be safe out there.

Huge thanks to everyone that helped out with the rescue. @hadhammer @cherisetuts @95percentjoel @codytutts #codysims @dribblej @foxonarock @chrisbenchetler @kimmyfasani @reese_the_explorer @a_maxhammer @amyjessharris @andrewduckyharris @elyses1 @thoreninthe_sea
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