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http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/article/a_renowned_grand_teton_climbing_ranger_reflects_on_mt_hood_costs_of_rescues/C396/L396/ New West Interview With Senior Grand Teton National Park Climbing Ranger Renny Jackson ---By Todd Wilkinson, 12-21-06 (just a portion) "This week, New West caught up with Renny Jackson, who oversees the world-renowned team of elite climbing rangers in Grand Teton National Park. Over the years, Jackson has organized or been a part of several high-profile search and rescue efforts in the Tetons. The unique corps of public servants has, on several occasions, been awarded special recognition from the federal government for putting their own lives in danger to aid others. In the short interview with Jackson that follows, he refrains from speculating on the motivation of the Mt. Hood climbers and on technical aspects of search and rescue efforts there. But he does put the issue into focus. .... ... NEW WEST (Bozeman, Montana): You’ve spearheaded the response for some pretty harrowing rescues on the Grand and other Teton peaks. In terms of assessing risk, what’s the Achilles Heel you often see? JACKSON: One thing that I have seen with folks is that they might know about the light/fast philosophy but they don’t follow through with it. That is, if they find that they are going too slowly or they come up against their turnaround time, they continue instead of bailing and coming back another day. Sometimes it may take several failed attempts in order to learn what you need to learn in order to be able to be successful on a particular climb. This learning process never stops- I’m 54 and I am either learning new stuff or relearning the old stuff that I have forgotten. NEW WEST: What’s the worst winter climbing experience you’ve had? JACKSON: When my partner Hans Johnstone and I were trying to figure out how to climb the Grand Traverse in the winter. During one of our attempts, I was following him on the section between Teewinot and Mt. Owen. I knew we were a little too close to a cornice edge at one point and, sure enough, the bottom dropped out from under me as several tons of snow dropped onto a steep starting zone. Somehow I instantly did a backflip onto the windward side of the cornice and was OK. The cornice that broke hit the starting zone and started a large slab avalanche that ran a few thousand feet down to Teton Glacier. My partner and I were quite shaken by that and eventually bailed off the Traverse a little further along the ridge.That was my closest call and I was ignoring the warning bell that was going off in my head telling me that I was too close to the cornice edge. NEW WEST: There’s been a growing debate over the question of whether rescuees should have to pay all or part of the bill for any mounting of a search effort. What are your thoughts? JACKSON: In the national park setting I would say that rescuees should NOT have to pay for their rescues. All of us pay taxes and there are entrance fees to get into parks and fees for backcountry permits in some places. Tragedies such as the one on Mt. Hood bring a ton of media attention to the sport of mountaineering. Because of the sensationalism, people begin to believe that it is, without question, one of the riskiest endeavors that recreationists undertake. If you actually look at the statistics of what types of incidents occur on Federal land, some of the ones that generate the highest costs are not what one would expect. For example, searches for lost hikers or simply kids who wander off from campgrounds generate enormous costs. Boating accidents, motor vehicle accidents, and other similar incidents occur at statistically much higher rates."

Q1: The American Alpine Club and the Alpine Club of Canada jointly produce Accidents in North American Mountaineering, an annual compendium of accident reports from climbing accidents in the United States and Canada. Through analyzing what went wrong in each situation, ANAM gives experienced and beginning mountaineers the opportunity to learn from other climbers' mistakes. From inadequate protection, clothing, or equipment to inexperience, errors in judgment, and exceeding abilities, the mistakes recorded in this book are invaluable safety lessons for all climbers. Accidents in North American Mountaineering also contains more than 50 years worth of accident data in table form. AAC members receive a complimentary copy of Accidents in North American Mountaineering with their annual membership. Copies also are available for purchase in many retail bookstores, mountaineering equipment shops, or directly from our distributor, The Mountaineers Books. Orders can be placed directly through their website or by calling 800.553.4453. As for Q2, ..... right here or you can paw around on the top 100 climbing sites by popularity. http://www.top100climbing.com/ ...cc.com is 22nd this past weekend. BTW, you asked ".....or will we be left with these discussions, speculations, and spay". Yes, many annoying questioners have been adroitly, properly "spayed" here. I knew the answer to Q1, because it has been asked and answered four or five times before. Be safe. also- as an outsider, .... this board is emblematic of the human spirit, has very poignant posts by new and old alike, and makes for incredible reading. .......and I am thankful it wasn't zippered up at the first sign the circus was coming to town without any "blue bags".

FWIW....., Sunday, December 17, 2006, Oregonian. “About 730 people got lost or needed rescue in Oregon last year. Only 24 were climbers, and fewer than 12 percent came from out of state.” Susan Nielson columnist for Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/susan_nielsen/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1166234137153910.xml&coll=7 Same resource questions go into whether there is a paid or volunteer fire department, ski patrol, or a mixture. Here is the site for annual Oregon SAR reports, etc. http://www.oregon.gov/OOHS/OEM/tech_resp/sar.shtml Gruss Gott, positive thoughts for the families. Danke.

Recap: Chinook crew found rope anchored to mountain and a snow cave 300 feet below summit. AVI danger. Very hopeful sign. source CNN ... Oregon NG SGT interviewed from the helo crew. Says may take another hour or two to get to it. Press Conf (10 minutes later): CPT says same as above. Chinook has twin engines, more stable, has para rescuers aboard. Other climbers are descending to snow cave. No contact yet with lost climbers. Hood River Sherriff's PIO- says it is 60-65 deg slope. Crew saw a "Y" sign in the snow/ice. "Y" is climbers talk for "Yes, I am here". No date/time on when sign made. Pretty solid ice in vicinity. Snow caves are almost sound proof. PIO saw photo proof of items laid out, snow cave, rope, ice anchors (PIO did not say it was an ice pick). Photo taken by Chinook this AM. Rescue climbers prepared to stay overnight on mountain, if nec. News now : Now long distance image from KOIN TV chopper on CNN. Very clear sky. Good progress. Shows about 12 climbers from rescue teams. My comment---No experts at CNN at this time, who can really interpret video with any precision. Fox also has same KOIN TV video feed. FOX host speculating climbers now with 100 feet or so of snow cave. Weather supposedly good today and tomorrow. My comment- Erfolg + Success, I hope. Good luck. Edit: (Later FOX estimates 30 rescuers in all around summit, mix of rescue climbers and para-rescuers)