EISPIRATEN

From PE.com (Press-Enterprise)
Rescuers searching for missing hiker on Mount Baldy
Search and rescue teams are combing Mount Baldy today in an effort to find a Chino man who has been missing since Wednesday.

Robert Bruner, 46, went hiking in the San Bernardino National Forest, in a 7,500-foot elevation area along Mount Baldy Road, said Deputy Dave Pichotta of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Bruner’s live-in girlfriend reported him missing on Friday afternoon to the sheriff’s Chino Hills station, which serves Mount Baldy.

Bruner parked his car on Ice House Canyon Road, . . .

Full story: http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/#a191924

I hope everything turns out okay. Only thing I could think of is if he went up Manker Canyon or something. Not many folks do that.

He told his girlfriend that he was going to try a new route from Icehouse Canyon
http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-mtbaldyhi ... 3193.story

http://www.dankat.com/advents/fallrk.htm

Don't know if this is relevant, but at about 3:20 pm Sunday the Sheriff's Rescue Helicopter flew over Pasadena/Sierra Madre heading from east to west in the general direction of Huntington Hospital. It was in a hurry - never seen that ship move so fast.

Unfortunately he was found dead west of falling rock canyon today.

http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/#a191989

Unfortunately, this search ended badly. Robert Bruner was evidently killed in a fall near Falling Rock Canyon (which is the route to Sugarloaf Peak from Icehouse Canyon).

Body of missing hiker found near Mt. Baldy
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 03/02/2008 06:48:22 PM PST

MOUNT BALDY VILLAGE, Calif.—The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department says the body of a hiker missing since Wednesday has been found in the mountains east of Los Angeles.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers says 46-year-old Robert Bruner's body was found by two hikers Sunday in the rugged terrain of Mount Baldy, about 45 miles east of Los Angeles. He was wearing crampons and alpine gear and had apparently been trying to climb an in ice wall.

Bruner, of Chino, was found just west of a tributary called Falling Rock Canyon.

About 30 volunteers had been searching for Bruner but the search was hindered by high winds, which kept helicopters grounded.

An autopsy is pending, but Beavers says it appears Bruner sustained fatal injuries during a fall.

Damnit.

AlanK wrote:He was wearing crampons and alpine gear and had apparently been trying to climb an in ice wall.

Sounds like he was geared up properly but something still went wrong. Damn...another reminder to be very careful out there.

So how many people have we lost in the San Gabriel Mountains during the first two months of 2008? Four so far (two to avalanches, two to falls)?

BTW, check out these photos of the Icehouse/Bighorn area from a week ago. It would be pretty scary to start sliding down on that stuff.

HikeUp wrote:Don't know if this is relevant, but at about 3:20 pm Sunday the Sheriff's Rescue Helicopter flew over Pasadena/Sierra Madre heading from east to west in the general direction of Huntington Hospital.

The helicopter was coming from Sturtevant Falls, where a girl had fallen & hit her head when crossing the stream. I was there when the helicopter hovered overhead and a SAR guy rappelled down. Lots of Sierra Madre SAR personnel coming down the trail from Chantry Flats when we were walking out, but only the helicopter was needed.

I thought we lost three so far this year in the avvies over in the Mtn. High area?

Hikin_Jim wrote:I thought we lost three so far this year in the avvies over in the Mtn. High area?

Plus, the guy who got lost in a white out in the San Bernardino Mountains and the young lady who fell off the Sturtevant Trail a few weeks ago.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Rough year.

An even rougher year was 2003-2004. We lost 7 hikers just in the month of January:

Jan. 1, 2004 - Chung H. Koh, 53, of Buena Park left to climb Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains. His body was found Jan. 17, more than 900 feet below a point he fell from.

Jan. 5, 2004 - Kenn Smith, 66, of Yucaipa died fell from the ice-glazed headwall of Mill Creek Canyon.

Jan. 11, 2004 - Matthew L. Jones, 15, of San Bernardino fell in the San Bernardino Mountains above Devore after he grabbed a tree that gave way on a slope burned in the October wildfires.

Jan. 14, 2004 - The body of Ali Aminian, 51, of Newbury Park was found three days after he went climbing on Mount Baldy.

Jan. 25, 2004 - The body of Ronald Barbour, 69, of La Crescenta was found in an icy ravine near Wrightwood. He'd set out Jan. 16 on a hiking and biking trip.

Jan. 26, 2004 - The body of James Simons, 36, of Morongo Valley was found on the Skyline Trail south of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. He'd been missing since the day before.

Jan. 30, 2004 - The body of Eugene Kumm, 25, was found about 1:40 p.m. in the San Gorgonio Wilderness above Forest Falls, San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies said. Kumm apparently died after falling 350 feet down an icy chute, officials said.

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That year was a big snow year. I remember hiking up Baldy in the snow on Halloween day and people were still climbing Baldy Bowl in the snow in late April.

2003 - 2004? Yeah, rough year all right. Ron Barbour is (was) my father. Slipped on ice and went over a waterfall head first in Acorn Canyon while doing a PCT section hike. Probably died instantly, but dang he was a mess when I saw him after the coroner released his body. Crack in his skull from rear to front big enough for me to stick my thumb through.

When dad went out, it was on a day like today, warm and sunny with no precip for multiple weeks. Things looked snow/ice free ... from the South. When he got there he found a lot of old crap snow turned ice on the N facing slopes. He was a very experienced hiker, backpacker, and mountaineer, having led Sierra Club trips and having climbed multiple 14er's. His experience has gotten more than one person out alive in a life threatening situation. I know; I'm one of them, and I've met the other one. She thanked me personally for dad saving her life up on Whitney a couple of months earlier. Experience wasn't enough.

Like Dean Christy this year, dad got buried under subsequent snow. Thank you, God, he was discovered by chance by a hiker about nine days after his death (he actually died 1/16 even though the coroner lists it as 1/25 since his body was recovered on 1/25). Let me tell you that those nine days were a living hell.

Watch your @$$ out there: Ice is serious business.

Wow, Jim, very sorry about your dad. I remember when he passed. It was a real shocker to all of us who had met or hiked with him.

My sincere condolences, Jim. I had no idea.

You know, it always saddens me a great deal whenever I hear about a hiking accident, even though I don't even know the person. I guess part of it is that I can relate to the person but I think what makes it especially sad is that the outdoors is a such an awesome place of beauty, peace and adventure yet it can also be so, so sad and cruel.

So sorry to read of your Dad, Jim.
My belated condolences to you and you family.

The risk pattern is there. Two years, 2004 and 2008, with lots of snow in Southern Cal moutain show increase number of fatalities related to snow/ice. The risk factor could be due to our infrequent experience with snow/ice conditions. This could affect our technical capbility, judgement, survival ability in these harsh conditions.

My late condolence to you Jim!

What Jim said, and what my wife, the ER doc, always tells me. Don't f-ck with ice. It doesn't always take long fall for ice to hurt/kill you; people fall and die even on icy sidewalks.

After my winter's experiences, for any trip I don't take full crampons, I'm adding instep crampons to my spring/fall kit even for moderate elevations, and for all alpine hikes.

Thank you for sharing that personal experience. I cant even imagine what it must have been like and hope I or anyone else never has to.

Hi, guys, I appreciate the things you all said. Thank you.

You may have noticed, if you hang out herein much, that I pay pretty close attention to SAR type stuff and safety issues. Dean Christy was kind of a weird deja vu. My dad and Dean were both in their 60's, life long, experienced outdoorsmen, both lived in La Crescenta, both were solo in winter conditions, and both were buried in snow, major SAR efforts couldn't find either one of them (my dad was found by chance by a hiker). That waiting and not knowing thing is really awful. I almost felt like writing to Mrs. Christy (i.e. Dean's wife) just to say that I knew a little bit about what she was experiencing.

It's kind of weird, but I was actually kind of relieved when I got woken up by a late Sunday night call and it was the SB County Coroner. I had even prayed in church that a) dad would be found in whatever condition and b) that none of the searchers would injured. God granted both of my requests (thank you, God); it's unusual to have two such major prayers answered same day. Ironic, isn't it the twists and turns of life? My father taken away but two major prayers fulfilled same day.

OK, OK, I should shut up now; I'm going on. But I think you guys probably get it why this season has got me a tad weirded out.

Hey, stay safe out there and take the frozen stuff seriously. Even though I'm interested in SAR stuff, I'd really rather not read about you.

I know that it might be of little consolation to you HJim but your father's death contributed to saving my life.

In 03 I was recovering from a divorce and discovered that hiking was a good salve for my pain. I was in the wilderness doing stupid SH... being ill prepared and cocky. My friends even thought that I was exhibiting suicidal behavior induced by an overdose of testosterone and adrenalin. I was out on the Blue Ridge and the PCT the same weekend that your father fell and I also took a tumble. That was my first wake up call and that week I bought crampons. I still had no idea how to safely travel in the winter. Later in the winter I had another almost fatal fall West of Baden Powell. This time I had more gear but did not know how/when to use them - I had snowshoes on when I should have had crampons. This was a BIG wakeup call!

That spring I joined SAR and received my mountaineering certification the following winter.

So in an indirect way I believe the media buzz around all those deaths in 03/04 contributed to me getting sane skills in traveling in the winter.

I have a high respect for you doing not running away from the wilderness that your father loved but ended up taking his life. Hiking must be both therapeutic and painful.

D

D:

Actually, that's pretty neat. I thank you for sharing that. It's really an encouraging thought that my dad's death in some part helped you to be safer, got you into SAR and from there to perhaps saving someone else's live. Altogether fitting. Thank you.

I was very impressed and very grateful to all of the SAR people who helped out, 95% of whom are unpaid volunteers. I had every reason to be out looking -- it was my own father I was looking for. All those guys going out in the hazardous condtions that they did when they had no personal stake in it whatsoever, that was just amazing. Again, I'm so grateful to everyone who participated.

I just don't think SAR gets the recognition that they deserve (but everyone expects them to be there when they get into trouble). Unsung heroes in so many ways.

HJ

That spring I joined SAR and received my mountaineering certification the following winter.

Who did you contact to join SAR?
Is it local?

Thanks

Contact your country sherif department or headquarters. In CA they are the ones that you work under. LA, Riverside, and San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego have credible organizations. www.SBSAR.org and www.RMRU.org are two websites that come to mind.

D

Thanks DH for the info.

Do you still volunteer for the SAR?

Where do you go?

I live near Lake Arrowhead and volunteer with RIMSAR. I have colunteered on Mutual Aids on Baldy, Wrightwood, San Jac and even once to Bishop. So once you are on the team word gets around!

Here is a link from the San Jac BB that discusses joining SAR with SBernardino, Riverside and San Diego chiming in.

http://www.palm-springs-photography.com ... .php?t=649

Where do you live - maybe I have a connection with someone near you to help you hook up.

D

Thanks for the info and link, I live in La Mirada area Orange county and Los Angeles border.

My friend who is also interested lives in Montebello area if you have any contacts please let me know, Thanks again

Robert

Sorry orange county has never been on any mutual aids that I have been on. I am sure that Orange County has some volunteer organizations but my guess it might be more urban SAR rather than wilderness.

Sierra Madre SAR has a great reputation and ii is relatively speaking fairly near where you live. They would know some of the nearer LA teams.

http://smsr.org/

D