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Rescue from the top of Mt. Hood OR

sno-drifter

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Today a Chinook lifted a man and his rescuers from the top of the mountain. Too little snow to get a cat up there and then the "Road is too steep". Notice that the rear rotor was about waist high so everyone had to crawl under to access the Chinook. https://katu.com/news/local/clackam...fice-responds-to-assist-climber-on-mount-hood
You can click and wait for the video to come up. The Blackhawk chopper doesn't work at this altitude so they had to get the Chinook from Pendleton. Glad that I am too old for this stuff.
 

PJL

Well-known member
I saw that. Crazy stuff. I had a helicopter "incident" 2 years ago on Adams that almost ended badly. But it didn't.

:smile:
 

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
if you watch closely you'll see the front go up and down then rise . at the point of loading the front was so high that it was lowering the rear much closer. lowering the clearance on the rear.
I watched a much better and longer video on facebook . one person you could see actually on his hands and knees crawling across the snow and climbing in.
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=tom imm
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Maybe slightly off topic, but as a taxpayer I wonder about the costs of various search and rescue missions?


There are certainly some missions that are 100% legitimate, but, for example, the guy who climbed to the top of Mt. Hood only to take out his cellphone and say "I might take an overdose and kill myself" strikes me as someone who should be forced to reimburse the appropriate entities for the entire cost of his rescue.


For those such as PJL who are involved in those activities, I'm curious as to your thoughts.
 

sno-drifter

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
In the case of use of US military entities, actual rescues are chalked up to training which would happen instead of the rescue. PJL can address the impact to the county. The Portland Mountain Rescue, who responded to this case, is a resource Clackamas County Sheriff's Department relies on. They are non- paid volunteers. Donations to this well trained organization are welcome and tax deductible. https://pmru.org/how-to-contribute
 
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Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Thanks Sno-Drifter (you deserve capital letters).



I'm curious as to what PJL will (hopefully) say...



I have tremendous respect, admiration and gratitude for people who do search and rescue work. Many, many times they are putting themselves at great personal risk to save some people guilty of genuine stupidity.


It seems, in Utah anyway, that all too frequently search and rescue teams are called upon to find/rescue people who were totally unprepared for their circumstances. And by "totally unprepared" I mean hugely, such as setting out without any clothing should the weather deteriorate even slightly, or without anything close to adequate food and water. If everything goes perfectly - they might be okay, but if literally anything goes awry, they're in a world of hurt.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
I remember the failed rescue from 2014. Looks like they learned the lesson about Blackhawks.

I hope those people being rescued have to pay the full price of the rescue.
 

PJL

Well-known member
To answer a few questions...

Robert B died on Mt Adams, his body was found a few weeks later. He most likely died within a few hours of his accident.

Sno-Drifter is 100% correct. The military does not charge for SAR. It's already built into the budgets. The personnel don't get paid overtime and the flight hours are chalked up to training flights.



The local sheriff's and fire agencies with helicopters don't typically charge either. Costs can vary. Snohomish County for example is staffed with mostly volunteers so the costs are much less. The old Hueys we run are actually quite cheap to fly. Compared to say Blackhawks and 412's.



https://www.outsideonline.com/1986496/search-and-rescue-public-service-not-exactly


This article discusses charging for SAR. Bottom line, it depends. Don't get lost or hurt in New Hampshire. $$$ http://www.hikesafe.com/index.php?page=costs


Washington has a vague and nearly un-enforceable law about cost recovery. http://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=38.52.430


Oregon has a cost recovery law, https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/404.270


But with a $500.00 limit. You can't even start the engine of a helicopter for $500.00


So, should people have put themselves at risk for a guy who tried to OD on purpose? Since this is a public forum and it's no secret what I do I'll stay mum on the subject.



PS, the guy we rescued yesterday is doing fine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw6UfkknYMI

We had him in the helicopter less than 3 hours after his accident.

Air rescue is very high risk but very high reward. There are several people alive and well today only because of air rescues I have been on. Without a rapid helicopter response they would be dead today. The ones I'm thinking of were just accidents plain and simple. You can fall of your roof cleaning gutters or get hurt backcountry skiing or climbing.




Okay, still on my soapbox. Most SAR in the US is conducted by unpaid volunteers but overseen by local sheriff's agencies. They are funded by donations, charitable contributions, and out of pocket by the volunteers themselves. There are large corporate donors as well. PSE and Microsoft just to name a few here. Some private citizens have donated large sums. One family here made a huge donation after we recovered a loved ones remains.



Some of our local snowcat owners do SAR. JimVT for example. Consider donating to your local SAR groups.



JimVT likes donuts BTW.
 
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DAVENET

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
This article discusses charging for SAR. Bottom line, it depends. Don't get lost or hurt in New Hampshire. $$$ http://www.hikesafe.com/index.php?page=costs


It's still 'inexpensive' to get lost or hurt in NH- IF you purchased your HikeSafe card, are properly equipped with the 10 essentials, have gear for any conditions you might encounter and use common sense.

Unfortunately, probably 4 out of 5 can't cover any of those and were just going out for a day hike. I believe we are already up to 8-9 rescues this year. Like this dipshit: https://www.concordmonitor.com/rescue-white-mountains-nh-17073322 :hammer::hammer:
 

Pontoon Princess

Cattitute
GOLD Site Supporter
yup, helicopters are expensive to operate, funny they did not reference the cost of operating a snow cat, probably because no one would believe them, when they report the cost was more than a helicopter. Tucker Sno-cats are expensive to operate....:smile:

a quote from the computer industry come to mind about this "hiker", garbage in - garbage out"...



PJL, you are amazing, thank you for all you do, as far as I am concerned, you should never have to pay for an energy ring, eat all you want.
 
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