No more rescue of climbers by the Army

[klenke]

I heard on the radio this morning (KOMO Radio) that the Army's Fort Lewis M.A.S.T. unit will be closed down, its members re-assigned.

 

An old source

 

Outdoor search and rescue will now be handled completely by local authorities. No more lumbering Army helicopters whumping across the Cascades.

[DirtyHarry]

I, for one, am happy to make such a sacrifice for the war effort.

[AllYouCanEat]

It appears that these guys have done a great job for a long time and it is sad to see knowlegeable people and a good organization broken up. My hats off to them for doing an exceptional job for as long as they have, and in the future maybe they will restart it! Things change, as does the political environment.

[Norman_Clyde]

Unfortunate for the community of mountaineers and other users of the backcountry, to lose this formerly public resource. This change promises to be especially troublesome for people stranded high up on Rainier, since the single-rotor helicopters have a much harder time at such altitude. Did the MAST team perform many rescues elsewhere in the Cascades, or is there some other copter/team, e.g. for NCNP?

[DirtyHarry]

They flew my buddy off of Cutthroat Peak once after he fell soloing and was almost dead and took him to Harborview. They called it a training exercise and didn't charge him a thing. I've also heard of them rescuing folks in the Olympics.

[still_climbin]

I saw them extract an injured climber and a body after a fatal crevass accident on Stuart Glacier in the 70's.

[slothrop]

A UH-1 responded to an accident at Vantage a couple years ago. I assume it belonged to this MAST unit. Too bad they're leaving.

 

NCNP uses private contractors and is also assisted by Coast Guard and Navy helicopters, I think. I don't know if the Army gets involved very often, since other assets are probably closer to the park.

[crazyjizzy]

A UH-1 responded to an accident at Vantage a couple years ago. I assume it belonged to this MAST unit. Too bad they're leaving.

 

If it was a UH 1, then it was probably Army Reserve. I participated in a rescue at Vantage in 1998, where a UH 60 did a litter pick-up.

NCNP uses private contractors and is also assisted by Coast Guard and Navy helicopters, I think. I don't know if the Army gets involved very often, since other assets are probably closer to the park.

 

I think Navy is MAST, I do not believe that CG is MAST.

[whirlwind]

I'll never forget them doing banking turns at vantage. it was bad ass the come flying in low then pull up and over the canjon wall, geting the heli straight vertical then fliping around and come straight back the way they came not once but like 3 times, it was bad ass

[Couloir]

This change promises to be especially troublesome for people stranded high up on Rainier, since the single-rotor helicopters have a much harder time at such altitude.

Perhaps, but we're still happy to help .

Mount Rainier National Park again recognizes and thanks the Oregon Army National Guard for their search and rescue helicopters. They again did a superb job during a number of challenging high-altitude rescue operations.

[mullster]

The Army MAST program based in Salem is still up and running and have been performing a lot of rescues in Oregon over the last few years. Perhaps they will be utilized at Rainier? The PJ's from the 304th (Air Force) are still in Portland, albeit without their helicopters, but sometimes the Army picks those guys up and uses them .. they are much better trained in high-alpine helo rescues.

[tread_tramp]

the nat'l guard used a UH-1 when they pulled me off of Chimney Rock in '03. They saved my ass for which I am greatful.

[Stefan]

I am most grateful to them too for extracting me off of The Temple.

[CraigClimber]

The Huey at Vantage a couple years ago was out of Yakima I think... at least that's what I remember the 911 dispatcher saying. Is there another outfit down that way still offering SAR support?

[Alasdair]

The Army MAST program based in Salem is still up and running and have been performing a lot of rescues in Oregon over the last few years. Perhaps they will be utilized at Rainier? The PJ's from the 304th (Air Force) are still in Portland, albeit without their helicopters, but sometimes the Army picks those guys up and uses them .. they are much better trained in high-alpine helo rescues.

 

The way I understand it is MAST from FT. Lewis have not been helping out for at least a year now. All MAST support has been coming from OR. Basically this means we have a longer wait time. I know that on an incident on Stuart two MAST blackhawks were called in and used Yakima as a base until the incident was over. This does effect the amount of air support we will have available. I dont think it will change Rainier, or N. Cascades NP, but it has definatly lowered your chances of getting picked off of many other peaks. The sheriff will not contract a private company out to come pick you off a peak, and they wont use their own choppers to do this type of work. For the most serious accidents in WA I think we will still see MAST getting involved, but dont count on it.

 

In short you should be self sufficent and have your self rescue down. Either that or you can send a letter to the "terrorists" and ask them nicely if they would stop shooting down all our helicopters that keep shooting at them.

[brook_alongi]

Snohomish county still has a huey and an active techincal helicopter response team.

 

With the drop in military support you can expect to see our team performing more rescues outside of the county. This is due to a lack of technical shorthaul and low hover ops capabilities from the adjacent jursidictions, such as King County.

 

Our team trains religiously, is made up of talented climbers and we are always on the ready to perform any techincal rescue the cascades can throw our way.

 

For what it's worth, the Navy will still do hoist operations out of Whidbey island - but only during daylight hours.

 

There is still a fare amount of helicopter resources, they just might not be as well known as M.A.S.T.

[sobo]

Alisdair has the righteous beta. MAST has been coming out of Salem for the past few years while the Ft. Lewis MAST has been sent off to Iraq and Afghanistan. They are not to return.

 

Also the Air National Guard has been flying helo ops out of Eugene(?). Those of us in Washington no longer have an in-state arial capability unless provided by private contract. I also understand that Chelan County Mountain Rescue has lost their bird with the retirement of their pilot. His name escapes me at the moment, but he's well known and highly respected in these parts.

[zaugg]

airwolf?

[sobo]

coulda been a nickname... I thought his first name was Pete.

[sobo]

I looked him up last night in Potterfield's book "Epic". His name is Pete Peterson.

[mtn_mouse]

Yes, good old Pete has been flying helicopters since the vietnam war. He also flew hueys for several years out of the Ellensburg DNR office during fire season.