March 23, 2019 19-113 #5

In the late afternoon of March 23, 2019, the Team received a report of a snowmobile accident near the summit of Bald Mountain. It was reported that the subject had a very serious ankle injury. The Team responded to Deadman Summit, and a field team of 8 rescuers and 7 snomos departed rescue base.

The Reporting Party was located, and he led the responders to the subject, who was nearby. The subject had a severely broken ankle/leg, with an open fracture and significant blood loss. The subject was packaged and transported via Rescueboggan to rescue base, where he was delivered to Mono County medics. The medics transported the subject to Mammoth Hospital for treatment.

IC Pelichowsky, Ops Leader Beck. Responders: Wallace, Patterson, Rea, Kaufman, Bush, Hammack, L, Carlson, Quiring, Fernandez

February 24, 2019 19-071 #4

The Team was called for an overdue snowboarder after closing at MMSA. After the Team’s arrival, MMSA Ski Patrol was able to located the subject.

IC Pelichowski, Ops Beck, Responders Hammack L.

February 23, 2019 19-070 #3

Skier overdue at closing time, MMSA. After the Team arrived MMSA Ski Patrol was able to locate the overdue skier using coordinates provided by the Sheriff’s Office, acquired from the subject’s mobile phone.

IC Pelichowski, Ops Hammack, L. Responders Beck,

February 17, 2019 19-063 #2

On Sunday, February 17, the Team received a call for a disoriented snowshoer near Earthquake Dome. Two team members drove to the Cinder Shed, and launched two snowmobiles on the trail system. The subject was located on the trail system, 2-3 miles from the Cinder Shed. She was returned to the trailhead via snowmobile.

IC Pelichowski, Responders: Quiring, Bush

January 12, 2019 19-017, #1

On January 13, 2019, a snowboarder was reported as overdue near closing time at MMSA. Ski Patrol was in the process of an active search, both inbounds and out. The subject was reported to be of low skill level and experience, and was riding with friends off of Chair 23 via Roadrunner. The subject’s friends reported him missing when the group became separated.

After sundown, the Sheriff’s Office was notified, and the Team was requested to assist. As the Team arrived on scene at MMSA Main Lodge, the respondents were put on temporary standby as Ski Patrol was concluding their search.

Shortly thereafter, Ski Patrol initiated voice contact with the subject, and then visually located the subject. The Team was released, and Ski Patrol returned the subject to Main Lodge, cold but uninjured.

IC Pelichowsky, Ops Hammack, L Responders: Bush, Kaufman, Quiring, Rea, Beck, Wallace, Patterson, Cucura, Creager, Buchanan, Dunne, and Hagan.

November 23, 2018 18-634, #37

On Thanksgiving Day, November 22, the team was notified of a hiker in distress, snowed in around the Garnet Lake area, near the PCT at approximately 9,900 feet elevation. The hiker’s condition was reported as stable. Winter weather restricted air access to the area.

On Friday, November 23, MOSAR team members rendezvoused with a National Guard CH-64 Chinook helicopter at the Mammoth-Yosemite Airport.

Schooner 20, Bravo Company 1-126th Aviation Regiment, 40th Combat Aviation Brigade.

After loading equipment, the combined team of MOSAR and the National Guard flight crew waited on the runway for a weather window.

The flight crew of Guardian 803 navigated in the tight airspace, in a snowstorm, in the High Sierra, and were able to locate the subject. A suitable landing zone was located, and the Chinook set down less than 40 feet away from the subject.

The subject was rapidly onboarded, followed by a medical assessment and treatment. A Mono County medic unit met the helicopter at the Mammoth-Yosemite Airport and provided ongoing patient care and transport.

Responders were Hammack, Endo, Quiring, and Kaufman.

Subject recovered, safely on the airship, and receiving medical care.

November 18-21, 2018, 18-616 #36

Second mutual aid response to the Butte County Camp Fire.  The Team was assigned to the task of clearing properties (searching for human remains, pets, hazards, etc) in the outskirts of Concow, CA. Team members were stationed each night at a large rescue/fire camp (called Camp Forebay) in Oroville, CA. The camp provided a large mess area, showers, sleeping area, medical zone, PPE distribution, fuel-up area, large IC area, and much more. The team slept in tents out in the quieter section of the park/camp. Ops began at 0830 each morning and concluded at 1600. Level 3 hazmat gear was worn each day, and the National Guard ran decontamination stations for us, equipment, and vehicles each day. Our last day a clear set of bones was found, but upon investigation by anthropologists, it turned out to (likely) be a two-toed animal and not human. Responders were: Quiring, Wallace, Luke Hammack, Hagan, Beck, Hartstrom, Pelichowski and Hansen. The Team volunteered 336 man hours for this call.

November 12-14, 2018, 18-616 #35

The Team responded in Mutual Aid to Butte County to search for human remains in the Camp Fire devastation.  Protective gear for eyes, breathing, and clothing was required  The Team arrived at midnight and slept in a classroom on the floor.  The first day's assignment was to search through missing person's properties that were reduced to ashes, looking for any sign of human remains with the assistance of an anthropologist.  The next two nights they slept on cots in a high school gymnasium with 200 of their closest friends.  The next day they were assigned a large area to check inside every car, again looking for human remains; marking every car searched.  While in Paradise they had on full protective gear and completed the National Guard's decontamination process.  Responders were:  Pelichowski, Greene, Kaufman, Buchanan, and Quiring.  The Team volunteered 172 man hours for this call.  412 POV miles.

November 3 & 4, 2018, 18-576 #34

In a continuation of the Karlie Guse’ search, the Team responded to a request for flankers and support to assist human remains detecting dog teams in the area around White Mountain Estates. Responders were:  Case, Bush, Kaufman, Quiring, Buchanan, Wallace, and Greene.   The Team volunteered 102 man hours for this call.  556 POV miles.

November 1 & 2, 2018, 18-599 #33

Alpine County requested mutual aid searchers for a missing peak bagger in difficult terrain at high altitude.  The subject was found deceased on November 3 at the base of a 200 foot cliff.  Responders were:  Pelichowski (MCSO 2 days), Quiring (2 days), Buchanan (2 days), Kaufman (2 days), Bush, Wallace, and Cucura.  The Team volunteered 162 man hours for this call.  548 POV miles.

October 21, 2018 18-584 #32

The Team was called at 5 PM to locate and rescue a 21 year old male from San Jose, CA who had severe symptoms of altitude sickness.  The location was given as 1-1/2 miles above Barney Lake out of the Mono Village trailhead.  The Team hiked in approximately 5 miles with the RP, and arrived in two hours.  It was dark from start to finish for the entire incident.  The subject was hypothermic, disoriented, shivering, and in pain. His spo2 was 62%, with rapid breathing and weak radial pulse.  He could not walk.  After an hour of oxygen, his condition improved enough that a 4 hour carryout was started, arriving at the trailhead at 0210, where Mono County Paramedic 7 transported him to Carson Valley Medical Center in Gardnerville.  No helicopter service was available.  Responders were:  Hansen (IC), Buchanan, Kaufman, Hagan, Hartstrom, and Patterson.  The Team volunteered 62 man hours for this call.

October 16, 2018 18-576 #31

This day was a continuation of the search for Karlie Guse’ near Chalfant.  The subject was not located.  Responders were:  Endo, Patterson, Bush, and Belovsky.  The Team volunteered 44 man hours on this day.

October 13, 2018, 18-576, #30

At approximately 2100 hours, the team received a call out for a missing 16 year old female in the area of White Mountain Estates. She was last seen Saturday morning on Ponderosa Street near White Mountain Estates in Chalfant, walking toward California highway 6.. Team members were requested to meet at the Laws Museum at 0600 hours on Sunday October 14, 2018. Team members, along with two search and rescue dogs/handlers from the Fresno area, searched but did not locate the subject. After a short debriefing, the search was suspended for the day. Responders were: Hartstrom (Ops), Sgt. Clark (IC), Bush, Belovsky, Torrence, Kallemeyn, Frolio, Quiring, and Kaufman. The Team volunteered 85 man hours on this day.

September 14, 2017, 18-516, #29

A call was initiated at 1017 on September 14. 2018 for a 63 year-old female backpacker from Arizona, who was complaining of back spasms. She was on the Pacific Crest Trail west of Waugh Lake (now dry). A team of five members was dispatched to the Rush Creek parking lot to wait for further instructions. CHP H40 was dispatched and located the subject. They were able to land and hiked a mile to the subject. After assisting the subject to the helicopter, they flew her to the Mammoth Lakes airport, where the she was transported by Mono County Paramedics. to Mammoth Hospital for treatment. Responders were: Pelichowski (IC), Kaufman, Torrence, Patterson, Buchanan, and Creager. The Team volunteered 16 man hours for this call.

September 3, 2018, 18-496, #28

At 1310 the Team received a call for a 38 year old climber from Alameda, CA with a reported fractured ankle at the bottom of the last pitch of the 3rd Pillar of Mt. Dana.

The Team responded to Lee Vining airport anticipating an air insertion, but all air resources were reporting as unavailable or available with significant delay, so a hike in was necessary.

The field teams drove to Tioga Lake, and started up the use trail toward the summit of the 3rd pillar. As soon as the first three arrived, a main and belay were constructed, and upon the arrival of the second three, a lowering commenced.

A Team member was lowered with a litter over the edge of the 700' cliff to the subject. The subject was packaged, and as other members of the field team arrived, a raising was begun with a 7:1 mechanical advantage. The litter stuck briefly at the edge, but was vectored successfully over the lip.

Image provided by the pilot of H40 who flew in to extract the subject

It's a long way up...

CHP helicopter H80 arrived from Apple Valley and landed on the Dana Plateau. The litter was carried to H80; the subject was flown to Lee Vining, and Mono County Paramedics transported him to Mammoth Hospital for treatment. H80 returned to retrieve a crewman.

CHP H80 waiting to transport our subject

The Team sent another member over the edge to the subject's partner who was still on the face about 100' from the summit blocks. The Team conducted the second raise to bring up the subject's partner, then all systems were demobilized, and all field teams hiked out to Tioga Lake, with most of the walk in the dark with periods of rain.

Hiking out...

Responders were:  Beck (Ops), Pelichowski (IC), Quiring, Kaufman, Bush, Torrence, Rea, Greene, Halferty, Cowan, Endo, and Hammack.  The Team volunteered 116 man hours for this call.

August 29, 2018, 18-490 #27

The callout began at 1839 for a hiker with an injured ankle near Greenstone Lake.  Three field teams were dispatched and located the subject who was attended by two campers who had assisted the subject to their camp from the accident location.  After treatment, the subject was transported to the trailhead via wheeled litter, and she was transported to Mammoth Hospital via a friend and personal vehicle.

Back at base, preparing for transport

Responders: Beck (Ops) Hansen (IC), Quiring, Patterson, Torrence, Bush, Greene, Dunne, Hartstrom, Carlson, Cowan, Rea, Hagan, Unsworth, and Eimen.  The Team volunteered 141 man hours for this call.

August 18, 2018, 18-457, #26

At 1345, The Team was called in aid of an 80 year old hiker on the Fern Lake trail.  June Lake Fire and Medic 2 also responded.  The subject was evacuated via wheeled litter to the trailhead, and Mono County Paramedics transported him to Mammoth Hospital. 

Responders were:  Beck (OPS), Pelichowski (IC), Bush, Cowan, Kaufman, Fernandez, Quiring, Wallace, Buchanan, Greene, and Case.  The Team volunteered 41 man hours for this call.

August 13, 2018. 18-437, continued, #25

Two field teams hiked 35 miles of trails and cross country routes in Horse  Creek, Blacksmith Canyon, Robinson Creek drainage, checking key points including Barney Lake, Peeler Lake, Snow Lake, Crown Lake and Rock Island Pass.  No clues were found and the search was suspended at the end of this day.  The subject was later found on Saturday August 18, deceased, on Suicide Ridge in Yosemite. 

Responders on August 13 were:  Buchanan, Wallace, Bush, Frolio, and Rea.  The Team volunteered 84 man hours on this day.

August 12 & 13, 2018, 18-440, #24

At approximately 1213, Mono County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch was contacted by a pair of hikers in the Mount Ritter area.  The call was for a 21 year old female hiker/scrambler from Southern California who had taken a fall on Mt. Ritter near the bottom of the chute that leads up toward the summit from the Southeast Glacier. 

They had turned around an estimated 400 vertical feet from the summit, and were descending at the time of the accident, and were at approximately 12,200 feet.  She sustained head injuries, and many scrapes, lacerations, and contusions.  She did not remember the fall, but her partner reported that her footing shifted, and she fell and landed on a snowfield, and slid down the snowfield, accelerating quickly, until her descent was arrested by a head-first slide into talus. 

Four team members met at the Mammoth-Yosemite airport and were transported via Lemoore Naval Air Station Seahawk helicopter.  The crew members were using night vision equipment.

Night insertion onto Mt. Ritter

The helo flew to the vicinity, and a blinking headlamp was spotted high up on Ritter.  The helo flew to the proposed LZ, and scouted the terrain, performed power checks, and eventually set down in a small alpine meadow at 9,600 feet elevation, less than 2 miles from the subject, and 2,500 vertical feet lower. 

The field team offloaded, and the helo departed to fly a little closer to be sure that the injured party had been identified.  The helo verified that they had located the subject, confirmed the coordinates of their location, and departed.

The field team began hiking through the dark, making steady progress through the cross-country terrain and difficult 3rd-class rock scrambling and across a snowfield  After an hour or so of snow scrambling, a headlamp was spotted a few hundred feet above the field team, and the team quickly maneuvered to the location, arriving around 0100 at around 11,400'. 

Treatment underway

The climbing party had not been prepared for a night out. 

The subject was treated through the night, and prepared for extraction.

A helo extract had been promised for 0800 Monday morning, but it did not arrive until 1030.  In the meantime, the subject had been loaded in the litter and carried from the overnight location to down to a location for better access to the helicopter. 

The ride out

An Air Force CH 47 Chinook flew in and extracted the subject and the field team, who were all flown to Lee Vining, and Care Flight transported the subject from Lee Vining to Reno. 

 Responders were: Pelichowski (IC), Beck, Endo, Hagan, and Creager.  The Team volunteered 107 man hours for this call.

August 12, 2018. 18-437, continued, #23

Two Team members interviewed hikers/backpackers who entered or exited the Robinson Creek trailhead about the missing subject.  They informed a trail maintenance crew about the missing subject.  No clues were obtained. 

Responders on August 12 were:  Buchanan and Wallace.  The Team volunteered 19 man hours on this day.