Mt. Washington Accident

[gapertimmy]

from www.bend.com

 

August 21 - A Eugene man who fell and injured his ankle Saturday while climbing Mount Washington was rescued along with his wife by an Oregon National Guard helicopter crew and flown to a Salem hospital, officials said.

 

John Manotti, 42, was at about 7,000 feet elevation, about 800 feet below the summit, when the accident occurred. His wife, Lisa, contacted the Linn County Sheriff’s Office about 11 a.m., said Sheriff Dave Burright.

 

Rescue teams from the Jefferson and Linn county sheriff’s offices responded to the scene, along with the Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit, the sheriff said. Meanwhile, a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from the Oregon National Guard’s 1042nd Medical Company was dispatched from Salem to assist in the rescue, at the request of Linn County officials.

 

Manotti was hoisted aboard the helicopter, as was his wife, rather than leave her alone on the peak until ground crews could reach her, National Guard officials said.

 

The original plan for the helicopter’s five-member crew was to take the pair to a waiting ambulance at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Salem. But an irregular pulse in Menotti’s foot prompted a change in plans and direct trip to Salem Memorial Hospital for treatment, officials said

[sketchfest]

The article doesn't say what route they were on, any idea?

[Hal_Burton]

The article doesn't say what route they were on, any idea?

 

Not to try to glean reliable information from a news article, but "800 feet below the summit" sounds like they were in the Sea of Scree of the approach.

[gapertimmy]

i heard something on the news about a west side route, but this was from the national gaurd dispatch, but really don't know

[Mike_G]

I was up there on Saturday climbing the North Ridge and saw quite a bit of the action, but don't have any real useful information. They definitely weren't on the North Ridge (there was a pair of novices that were behind us moving pretty slow), but they were way the heck below any of the west side routes. Perhaps they were able to descend down the scree a long ways, but they were nearly down at the treeline. This seems a bit tough for his wife if his ankle was bad enough to call in a chopper.

 

We first noticed them at about 1 or 2:00 pm as we were descending from the gap below the technical portion of the North Ridge. As we crossed northward across the scree slope, we heard them yelling, but they didn't appear to be in distress and didn't seem to respond directly to our calls back. I can only speculate that they were helping the SAR folks locate them. They showed up soon after.

 

As we continued down through the meadow, the chopper came over the ridge and dropped off a medic, I assume, then flew around for about twenty minutes, then landed right in front of us for a few minutes (to save fuel?). After picking up the injured climber it circled a few more times, then picked up the wife and the medic (I think, it was kind of behind the trees at this point). There were several SAR folks on scene, so I'm not sure how accurate the news report is about not wanting the wife to hike out on her own. Maybe she slipped them a twenty.

 

Maybe I'll post a photo of the chopper taking off from the meadow when I get it back. It was pretty neato. Dust and grass and trees and rabbits were flying all over the place.

 

So as far as I can tell, they were on a West Side Route (assuming that he didn't bust an ankle on the approach). However, they must have worked their way a loooong way down the scree.

 

Cordially submitted,

Mike

[mattp]

That scree slope below the west ridge is your biggest nightmare of scree slopes. Some of it is "scree" sitting on top of rock and dirt in such a fashion that rocks over 10' in diameter skate out from under you with no warning. I'd hate to hobble down there with a broken ankle!

[iain]

Sadly, Mt. Washington is the place to be this year if you are in the 1042nd medivac.

[rbw1966]

True dat, Mattp! One can really hone their scree surfing abilities on Mt. Washington's west flank.

[CascadeClimber]

You don't have to approach the north/west side via the scree slope on the west side. There is a climber's trail that goes from timber up the north ridge. We went up that way and down the endless scree to a delicious swim in the lake on an incredibly hot day.

[iain]

I hope people are not approaching via the scree slopes. Yuck. The n. ridge is by far the way to go up, then ski the scree down.

[rbw1966]

That would be the way to go if all you want to do is the North Ridge. However, going that way for any of the west ridge or south side routes would be quite a bit out of the way. Both times I went in for west ridge climbs we ascended the western edge of the scree, boulder hopping most of the way. It wasn't that bad at all.

[ivan]

i agree w/ my stone cold pimpin' partner...traversing the scree slope was annoying, but hardly horrible

[gapertimmy]

i have come to the conclusion that like most other mountains in oregon, washington is best done/approached with the fluff of the heavens is on its flanks. bring the boards, or stay home and spray.

[rbw1966]

Anyone ever done a winter ascent of Washington? I'm thinking the ski would be well worth it but does the mountain itself receive enough neve/firm snow to make it fun?

 

Is the road beyond Hoodoo plowed at all? How far can one drive beyond hoodoo?

[steepconcrete]

it gets climed in winter. I heard of a Will PAss troller who skied it from the summit a few years back.

 

The plows stop at Ray Benson, 1/4 mile past Hoodoo.

[iain]

There is some fine skiing to be had up on Washington. For a fun excursion do the winter circumnavigation.

[Mike_G]

Here's the photo of the heli taking off from one of the little meadows NW of Washington. The red circle is about where the injured party was located (just behind the trees from there).

 

The loud motor of the chopper kind of ruined my wilderness experience.

 

Mike

[Mike_G]

Okay, so that didn't work. Can anyone tell me why the file I attached at the preview stage didn't show up? I checked the FAQ but it didn't tell me much. Thanks.

 

Mike

[k44]

your pic is showing up

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/upload/390425-Heli%20on%20Washington.jpg

[Mike_G]

Okay, so I'm new. I didn't see the little "attachment" link near the top of my post. Thanks!

 

Seems like I've seen some posts where the picture is in the text of the message. Does the image have to be on another external website for that to work?

 

Mike

[Chriznitch]

put it in your cc.com gallery and insert it into the thread using this:

[mattp]

You can do the same thing with your attachment. Add it as an attachment when you enter your post, then go back and "open up" the attachment. Copy the URL, and then edit your message to insert the [img} [/img] tags using the "Image" option. Its a bit clumsy but it works.