EISPIRATEN

Quote from Zach There was a weird back-current that was sucking him towards the waterfall . That is a common phenomenom of falls. An eddy is created which can suck you under and or create a strong current back toward the falls. In some circumstances where water falls from a higher to lower level (l...

Whoa! So the chopper made multiple trips, and finally they had to get a Blackhawk*? I had no sense of the time on this. Dang! Taco, you were stuck at the bottom a long freakin' time. No wonder you were getting hypothermia. Dang good idea to get into some dry clothes. If you were able to recover on ...

Taco's list is good. I'd encourage you to think about what kinds of trips you are planning and where you are going. You should carefully consider gear you might want to have should you be forced into an unplanned overnight bivy. The right equipment can often be the difference between having a misera...

It was quite irritating to be in front of such historical climbing boulders,formed from nature right in front of us so close to the city,ready to enjoy a problem,but every hold is covered in axle/bearing grease,ruined by modern city folk who have no respect.Truly disturbing the lengths some people ...

Building an understanding of avalanches is much more than digging pits. It is a combination of field and "classroom" training and LOTS of time in the field applying assessment skills in the real world (doing so as safely as possible, of course). Many factors impact stability (e.g., weather...

Remember - just renting the gear isn't enough..... You need to know how and when to use it too! Good option = go with someone experienced that could let you borrow some gear. People with all of the right gear have run into serious problems in the local mountains because they didn't know how to use it.

... My question regarding when SAR comes up stems from the fact that they all stated that they were only on Standby for a few hours before actually heading up. I assumed that they were done so because USFS was on scene rather quickly and radioing down that we were soon in transit back down in addit...

He was also very concerned about the cost of SAR that he or his family might have to pay so he wanted to try and make it out on his own. I'll take this opportunity to chime in. Rescue is free! Wait, it is?! So, if the chopper flies you out, you won't get charged?! Not that I ever plan on using it b...

Thank you Blake for your detailed post. Your experience in this incident is very valuable - particularly from a SAR coordination standpoint. Anytime you are dealing with multiple agencies things can get complicated very quickly. As Norma noted, skilled incident management is crucial. Hopefully the v...

I agree that some the of the biggest factors in preparedness relate directly to your individual fitness, experience/training, familiarity with your gear, and an ability to assess objective/subjective hazards. Our local mountains seem to catch people off guard - especially in the winter. I am always ...

There have been a number of trip reports and accounts of the accident on the 23rd. As an outsider looking in on the incident it sounds like everyone did a great job in caring for a fellow mountaineer in a bad situation. Everyone that provided assistance should be proud. Considering what worked well ...

This is a tough situation. We are used to having a rescue helicopter swoop in and whisk the subject to the nearest hospital. Weather and other factors may preclude the use of aircraft and still entail a relatively long response. Deciding to do a carryout is not a trivial decision, particularly with ...

The trail is open. Big thanks to everyone that pitched in to help clear the trail. From the city.... The Mount Wilson Trail is now open to the public as of Wednesday, December 23, 2009. Please note the trail is subject to closure due to weather conditions or unforeseen natural occurrences. Please co...

Nice pictures. I like the picture of the "crevasse" near the top. Did you notice if the crack went down to the ground? As you probably know, the fracture you see is not a crevasse, but is formed due to creep (downhill motion occuring within the snowpack as it slowly slides down the hill) o...

A crew is going up to work on the trail tomorrow (Wed).

Bring work gloves, lunch/water, etc.

Meeting at the trailhead at 8:30.

I'm not sure how Charlie wants people to contact him - you may want to check with the City of SM and see if they have a preferred contact method for him. If you can't find contact info let me me know and I'll get you something... FYI - Some work has already been done as of today (Sunday). A few more...

FYI - The City of Sierra Madre has closed the Mt. Wilson Trail due to a large rockslide just below the switchbacks. The volunteers who maintain the trail are putting together a plan to clear the slide and get the trail reopened, but for safety reasons the public is asked to honor the closure. Charli...

To answer a couple of the questions folks have asked.... NH is the example everyone points to re: charging for rescue since an incident last year resulted in a 17 y.o. hiker receiving a bill of $25k (mainly due to helo related costs) for his search. NH changed their laws to allow charging for SAR if...

Would they have charged you anything for a rescue? As was stated in at least one other post, there is not a policy or practice to charge for SAR operations in the majority of the nation. There are a few exceptions, but it is important for people to know that these are very significant exceptions. N...

Monster header in the Big Santa Anita/Monrovia Peak area...

Fire running in the West Fork?

Even the Garcia trailhead on Sierra Madre Blvd at fire station 97 in Glendora is taped off. I don't think that a hiker gets into USFS property until he or she is on the ridge. I noticed that was taped off a while ago. WTF? Must be a city closure. The local cities were asked by the USFS to close the...

The Beast is now mostly out of the urban interface though it is very stubborn over toward Magic Mtn, wind could push it down to Sand Cyn, Santa Clarita in a very short time. There is a bit of renewed vigor below Pacifico Mtn over Bare Mtn and SF Little Rock Creek The main action is in the SE claw o...

Is Greg (or Sue and Deb) still up the hill?

The new designation will be Federal Disaster Area. Closed to public access.

Is this the bear?

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_13220067

Local SAR team members on Denali.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/living/ci_12788369

re: Helicopters and Barley Flats....

Barley is the LASD's mountain base for Air-5, the large Sikorsky helicopter that plays a prominent role in so many of the SAR and EMS operations in the San Gabriels.

Staging at Barley gives them a short ETA to incidents almost anywhere in the range.