Snowboarder Fall in Solstice Couloir At 1210 hours, the Team was called to assist a 35-year-old male who had sustained life-threatening injuries after falling approximately 1,000 feet (300m) from the top of Solstice Couloir on the flanks of Mt. Dana, striking rocks during the descent. Rescue base was established at the Lee Vining Airport.
Rescue Operations requested CHP Helicopter H40 who accepted and responded from Fresno. Mono County Medic Unit 2 responded to rescue base, and also requested a CareFlight helicopter from Gardnerville, NV.
Rescue Operations assigned a team member to be inserted by helicopter. While weather conditions were clear, wind gusts at Lee Vining Airport were brisk, ranging from 10 to 15 knots. H40 flew over the subjects, a group of 3, en route to Lee Vining and reported stronger gusts up to 25 knots, confirming that a hoist-only rescue would be required.
Team one preparing to depart Lee Vining Airport
Operations assembled two additional teams: a two-person helicopter standby team and a two-person team to enter the field on foot via the Glacier Canyon Trailhead. Upon landing at Lee Vining, the H40 crew, the SAR Team, and Mono County Medic 2 worked together to strip weight from the aircraft.
Field team one was loaded with a first out trauma bag, an activated Hypothermia Prevention and Management Kit (HPMK), rope rescue and hoist gear, as well as H40’s breakaway litter and CMC Bauman Bag. A full-body vacuum splint was also loaded onto the aircraft but remained unused.
Due to worsening wind conditions, a “load-and-go” strategy was agreed upon with the flight crew and paramedics: if hoist-insertion was possible, the priority would be to rapidly package and extract the patient. Extended on-site treatment was deemed too risky given the potential for the helicopter to become grounded by wind.
The subject’s party near the toe of the Solstice Couloir as seen from CHP Helicopter H40.
After a turbulent approach and several passes through the canyon, team one was successfully hoisted in and made contact with the three-person party. Given the critical condition of the patient, team one delegated tasks to the other splitboarders to expedite the hoist.
One continued to support the patient mid-slope, while the other dug a platform for the litter and Bauman Bag, which were prepped in full. A rapid primary assessment was conducted using direct information from the uninjured subjects, and a brief medical report of critical was relayed to the flight paramedic and awaiting care team, including CareFlight.
Approximately 15 minutes after arrival, the patient was packaged and hoisted aboard. H40 transported the patient to Lee Vining Airport, where Mono County paramedics and a CareFlight flight nurse and paramedic personnel worked together to stabilize and then transfer him to Renown Medical Center, a level II trauma facility in Reno, NV. After the scene was cleared, team one descended on foot with the remaining subjects, receiving support halfway down from team two approching from Tioga Lake.
IC: Pelichowski, Rhoads Ops Leader: Haugh Responders: Buchanan, Lipman, Brownlee, Quiring, Romanova, Gerber, Huizingh, Anderson
On-Scene Coordinator: Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue