Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board I feel for the SAR!

On Monday 09-08-03, at approximately 8:00 PM, Nye County, Nevada received a
cellular 911 call from an individual advising he was lost in the Cottonwood
Lakes area and requested help. James Vickman, 44 from L.A. Vickman told
dispatchers he was at a junction with a sign for the Muir Lake and Cottonwood
Lakes. Vickman did not know which way to proceed. He advised he would stay at
the sign until help arrived. No further communication was established due to
Vickman’s phone going dead. As Search and Rescue members arrived at the
trailhead to Cottonwood Lakes, they noticed a vehicle leaving. They stopped the
vehicle and contacted Vickman. Vickman said he didn’t think anyone was coming,
so he left finding his way back to the trailhead.

Frivolous calls to either 911 or the Search and Rescue could both be curtailed via a simple solution:

A non-emergency call to 911 results in a $50 charge to the offending party. (After all, 911 HAS the person's phone number - just have their phone company add it to their bill.) Since supposedly a huge percentage of calls to 911 are to, like, ask about the weather or equally stupid stuff, this would really help their budget. Implied here is that 911 would really get the $50 where it could be put to some decent use; not that it would end up in some politician's pet pork barrel project.

A frivolous call for SAR (or any other "rescue" type) assistance results in the individual being billed the cost of the response. Even if SAR is volunteer, calculate a value for their time, travel costs, equipment costs, etc., etc., bill the person and pay the revenue back into the SAR budget to offset the cost of the "lameness" and allow those resources to be used for people who actually need help.

There's absolutely no reason society has an obligation to support pure, blind stupidity.

Just my 0.02

I would like to know the source for this report. I find it hard to believe that a cell phone signal will get out of the Sierras, across the Inyo Mountains, further across the Amargosa Range, and make contact in Nevada. I also find it hard to believe that SAR would respond to someone at a signpost on a marked, major trail who is not claiming a life threatening situation. Maybe it all really happened as described, but it seems more like an "urban legend".

It all depends on where you are as to whether one's cell phone will make a connection. Point being, I was atop Kearsarge Pass in June and was able to make a call home on my cell phone, and the AT&T bill that I got a month later indicated that the transmission line my cell went through was Tonopah, Nevada.
Of course, I'm quite sure one's cell will NOT connect when between and below ranges.

That report was taken from the Inyo County SAR site.

http://www.inyosar.org

You will find it under "missions". Mission # 0309032 - Sept. 08, 2003 - Cottonwood Lakes

What do people think about this concept: A separate, read-only message board, in addition to the "Mount Whitney Reports", titled something like "Mount Whitney Rescues", where rescue reports, possibly with commentary on "lessons to be learned" are posted by a voluntary moderator (not looking to give Doug more work!)

The concept is something somewhat equivalent to "Accidents in North American Mountaineering" which is so valuable to mountaineers.

People look to this board so much more often, now, to learn info about climbing the mountain, perhaps this would have a preventative effect?