Book help needed

[JeffreyR]

After the war, I think all blackhawks had to come out of Oregon becuase there were no more blackhawks in Washington...

 

There are still a few SAR specific Blackhawks in WA (Whidby Island NAS SAR) and Ft Lewis-McCord has a few still.

[rmncwrtr]

Stefan - I actually have an idea for a helicopter rescue floating around in my head. Just not sure if it'll go in this story or the next one. I spoke with a PMR member who was lowered during a rescue on Hood (wasn't taking notes so need to find out more info as to when/circumstances), but I don't know if that's the norm and if not would need to figure out how one of my MRs would be the one lowered rather than military personnel. Again, it's fiction, but I'd like it to be at least plausible.

[olyclimber]

I'm sure it can be done. Maybe CobraCommander could pull it off?

[sobo]

After the war, I think all blackhawks had to come out of Oregon becuase there were no more blackhawks in Washington...

 

There are still a few SAR specific Blackhawks in WA (Whidby Island NAS SAR) and Ft Lewis-McCord has a few still.

Correct. But all of the UH-60s left the Yakima Firing Center years ago and are overseas. IIRC, there hasn't been a Blackhawk at the YFC since 2005.

[rmncwrtr]

Happy Valentine's Day! :kisss:

 

Found what I needed!

 

Thanks!

Edited February 15, 2011 by rmncwrtr

[rmncwrtr]

Anyone have a really uncomfortable night they spent out on a climb? I'm looking for something for my mountain rescuer heroine. She's climbed throughout the Cascades and in Alaska, if that helps with her experience level.

 

The night isn't described real time, but comes up in a discussion. I was thinking on a ledge in sketchy weather, but figured this was a good question for here. Any suggestions?

[DPS]

This one time, at band camp, Chris Simmons and I climbed the Japanese Couloir on Mt Barille in the Ruth Gorge in early May. We were going off minimal beta from some French climbers. We climbed the route and attempted the recommended descent but bad avalanche danger forced us to retreat back up towards the summit.

 

We decided to rappel and downclimb the route just as it got dark so we chose to sit it out. We sat on our packs and put on our belay jackets. We slapped each other on the backs to keep warm and awake so we wouldn't fall down the route.

 

It was a very cold, but thankfully short Alaskan spring night. With stiff muscles we descended back to our camp.

[rob]

I remember a crappy night on a 2 foot downsloping ledge sleeping in my harness. Halfway through the night, I removed my leg-straps in my sleep (they were uncomfortable), and my harness slowly slid up to my chest/armpits in the night. I think I slept about 5 minutes that night. I kept opening my eyes, seeing a red-light blink in the distance (radio tower) and thinking, "damn! still night."

[DPS]

At least it wasn't cold.

[wfinley]

This one time, at band camp, Chris Simmons and I climbed the Japanese Couloir on Mt Barille in the Ruth Gorge in early May. We were going off minimal beta from some French climbers. We climbed the route and attempted the recommended descent but bad avalanche danger forced us to retreat back up towards the summit.

 

We decided to rappel and downclimb the route just as it got dark so we chose to sit it out. We sat on our packs and put on our belay jackets. We slapped each other on the backs to keep warm and awake so we wouldn't fall down the route.

 

It was a very cold, but thankfully short Alaskan spring night. With stiff muscles we descended back to our camp.

 

Some locals from Anchorage got stuck atop Barrile a couple years ago and had to bivy on the summit ridge. I was talking to the husband and he said "Oh... it wasn't that bad. Kind of nice out actually. My wife didn't like it though."

 

Anyone have a really uncomfortable night they spent out on a climb? I'm looking for something for my mountain rescuer heroine. She's climbed throughout the Cascades and in Alaska, if that helps with her experience level. The night isn't described real time, but comes up in a discussion. I was thinking on a ledge in sketchy weather, but figured this was a good question for here. Any suggestions?

Spent a night atop Aconcogua with my wife a couple years ago. It was a miserable night but she got inside of the snowcave so she actually slept a bit. I was stuck halfway in the cave and didn't sleep a wink. I wrote about it here.

[sobo]

Anyone have a really uncomfortable night they spent out on a climb? I'm looking for something for my mountain rescuer heroine. She's climbed throughout the Cascades and in Alaska, if that helps with her experience level.

 

The night isn't described real time, but comes up in a discussion. I was thinking on a ledge in sketchy weather, but figured this was a good question for here. Any suggestions?

Spent an unplanned bivy on Stuart on my first trip up there 20-odd years ago. Went through 7, count 'em, 7 weather patterns that day (in order: sunny/clear, wind/overcast, fog/white-out, rain, lightning strike, hail, snow), only to be benighted on the way down. Like rob, we spent the night in our harnesses on a narrow sloping ledge with our feet hanging over the edge, and roped to a scraggly little bush. We were out of food, forced to drink meltwater, and neither of us slept a wink, shivering and slapping ourselves to keep warm. We didn't bring long pants or a sturdy jacket, thinking this was "just a July day climb." Ended up stuffing my feet and lower legs into my daypack and fighting over a space blanket. It got down to just above freezing, and it looked like it was going to rain/snow again. About 3:00 a.m. or so, I turned to Phil and opined, "Ya know, if it rains, we're dead men."

Phil's classic response resonates to this day: "Thanks for the fucking weather report."

 

Afterwards, I thought it was kind of a fun night, but Phil was most unimpressed with the evening. He had just gotten married a couple months earlier and would much rather have been with his hottie of a wife than stuck on a ledge with a bear like me.

[Alex]

Spent about 5 hours in a bivy sack at 9000 ft on N Sister in Oregon in 1994. It wasn't cold the first hour but I slowly froze and couldnt wait for dawn...literally. At 3am I had had enough and soloed the summit tower directly above Early Morning couloir by moonlight, which was as we say quite a formative experience. That was the trip I learned that bivys are not heroic and moving is the way you stay warm in the alpine.

[genepires]

3rd night in the winds and we get a freak nighttime summer snowstorm. Waiting for the snow to melt and with a late 10am start, my at then girlfriend and I left camp to climb the wolfs head in the cirque of the towers. The guidebook talks of something like 6 pitches up the ridge, then 4th class across the top to the descent walkoff. Sounds good for a short day.

 

After the ridge we were greeted by lots of snow on the n facing 4th class terrain. We had to pitch out the entire traverse. On the last pitch and at the rappel down to the 3rd class bits, I watched the sun go down. 3 hours of pitching out snowed over slabs in 3rd class and pitch black terrain, I resigned to the idea of waiting out the remaining 4 hours till sunrise. Stumbling around in the dark was an accident waiting to happen. Made a little bivy by sweeping the snow off a flatish rocky area and got the big lumps out. So we bundled up, put our feet in our packs and commenced to spoon. Half way through the night I realized she was a tough gal and asked her to marry me. The things a girl has put up with and do when dealing with a nutcase like me.

[sobo]

3rd night in the winds... Half way through the night I realized she was a tough gal and asked her to marry me. The things a girl has put up with and do when dealing with a nutcase like me.

Now *that* is a really sweet story. Nice, Gene!

[rmncwrtr]

Oh, wow. Great stuff here. Thank you! Thank you! Fantastic link. So sweet, Gene. Love the proposal story so much! Now to figure out my heroine's scenario from all this. Thanks again! :kisss: You all are awesome!

[AlpineK]

On the Cassin Ridge we had a great tent site under the second rock band. The next day our plan was to find a couloir a Korean group climbed to reduce the amount of mixed or rock climbing. We eventually found the couloir but it took a while and we were tired.

 

Instead of climbing 5 traversing pitches we chopped and chopped some ice and produced an angling and uncomfortable ledge to, "sleep," on. The next morning weather moved in and winds were blowing about 150 mph. We couldn't move.

 

We got out our radio. Since we were high on the mountain we had line of site contact with park rangers in Talkeetna. We ask what the weather forecast was and the ranger ask, "Where are you guys at?" We responded with 16000 feet on the Cassin. The response was, "Oh," and then a long pause. The ranger then said the forecast called for another 24 hours of storm then calm. He then advised us to hang in there.

 

We did manage to fix 300 feet of rope down to a flattish spot where we could actually lay down. Sure enough the weather was still and calm the next day. We got our stove running and melted water which we hadn't done for almost 48 hours.

 

After drinking and getting prepared we took off for the summit. It ended up being a straight push except for 4 hours in sleeping bags at 19000 feet.

[Off_White]

One fun detail: I was happy to be wearing my helmet while on an unplanned bivy on Dragontail - while shivering uncontrollably I didn't hurt my head banging it against the pointy rocks in my little bivy coffin.

[rmncwrtr]

Haha. Keep them coming! Never even thought of the shaking and slapping.

 

So it might have been a couple of years ago, but I seem to remember someone on this site posting that they taped one of those emergency blanket packages inside their helmet and it really helped during an unplanned bivy one time. Does anyone remember that or has anyone done that? It stuck in my brain for some reason.

[wfinley]

I used to tape an emergency blanket in my helmet. Once in the Canadian Rockies while climbing with an old friend I showed my space blanket / helmet trick to my partner and he very ceremoniously pulled his space blanket out of his pack and tossed it into the truck and slammed the door as we were leaving. 15 hours later we were huddled on a snow ledge with only one space blanket and he felt really stupid. Here's that story. And another one with the wife. Yes - I am a very slow climber and I don't know when to turn around.

[sobo]

So it might have been a couple of years ago, but I seem to remember someone on this site posting that they taped one of those emergency blanket packages inside their helmet and it really helped during an unplanned bivy one time. Does anyone remember that or has anyone done that? It stuck in my brain for some reason.

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that was Billy Finley (below), and he "discovered" that trick from me almost 15 years ago while we were ice climbing in the Eklutna Canyon one evening in 1997. I had just finished relating to him my Stuart unplanned bivy story (just up-thread ^^). I think we watched the Hale-Bopp Comet that evening after topping out on Ripple. That sound familiar, Billy?

 

I've been stashing a space blanket above my helmet suspension for decades. It could have been me that you're remembering, but I'm pretty sure it's Billy telling the story that you remember, Mel.

[wfinley]

Ha -- I had totally forgotten about that! I remember now! Thanks for the trick!

 

Everytime I climb Ripple (2-3 times a season) I think about that night sitting at the top staring at Hale-Bopp. That was a really special sight.

[rmncwrtr]

Resort skier trying to write about bc. A couple questions: If you're back country skiing on a powder day and stop to have a snack/drink, would you put down a pad to sit on or just sit on snow? If on pad, is there a specific type of pad it is so the reader wouldn't be left wondering what this thing is.

 

I wanted to add that one of the party is struggling from the uphill skinning and needs to rest so this might be a longer than normal break.

 

Also anything they might have with them besides probe/beacon/shovel that I might not think of.

 

Thanks!

Edited March 3, 2011 by rmncwrtr

[tanstaafl]

I take off my pack and sit on that. pretty much everyone I ski with does the same. And unless it's a stupefyingly warm spring day I pull out my puffy immediately and put it on.

[rmncwrtr]

Thank you! :kisss: Figured it might be a little different from the kids and I stopping to eat a bar and drink some water for a few minutes on the side of a run. Especially appreciate the jacket info because I don't have them wearing them on the way up!

[xhen]

It's the pack or my pack has a really think foam pad that surrounds the frame sheet. I've used that numerous times to sit on. And always get the puffy out. Get cold quick.