Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board contacting "the authorities" for help

I thought this subject so important, that it shouldn't be buried in the Whitney incident thread, so it could easily be searched and found.

Question is, how best to contact this help?

One person had delays with 911. Another person felt one should directly call the SAR team. I posted that contacting the county Sheriff would be best.

Perhaps others with experience in the subject could clarify the relative options?

You should not even be thinking about it. Self rescue and personal responsibilty are the hallmarks of a "mountaineer".

depclimg,
Lets say someone is a "mountaineer" and has lots of "personal responsibility" and is an expert in "self rescue", but they come upon some other folks who are in trouble. Who are you going to call?

OK, for the sake of argument, let me be a mountaineer whose hallmarks are self rescue and personal responsibility. I certainly agree that these are wonderful and extremely important traits.

So, I am out in the wilderness and I come across a critically injured person. In my judgement, the only way to save him is to go back to that campsite I passed a while back and borrow the cellphone I cursed as I went by. Suddenly, I wish I had goven some thought to how best to contact the authorities, given that time is critical.

That's not so farfetched.

Never say never.

Check out my INCIDENT ON WHITNEY for the problems which one might encounter in getting help.

Exactly! The fact is that any of us, including the folks apply the term "idiot" to anyone who has a mishap, could find himself in the position of needing to contact outside help (from "authorities" or whomever). Theloneus has done a service by stimulating some of us to consider issues we generally ignore.

In Doug Thompson's Book "Mount Whitney Mountain Lore from The Whitney Store" 2nd Edition; It states: If you call 911 you will get Barstow CHP, as people have found out.

Thompson suggests calling Inyo County Search and Rescue and Sheriff’s dispatch at 760-876-5606. Tattoo this number into your brain. This number will get you someone in Lone Pine who knows how to handle trouble call on the area. Page 66 of Thompson’s book.

I would suggest to anyone who hikes: anywhere in Inyo National Forest, should program this number into there cell phone, Just In Case.

Just last Tuesday night; late, well after dark, returning to the portal from Trail Camp; I came across a group of three hikers, one of whom had gone Snow Blind (near Lone Pine Lake). One of the members of my team had a cell phone and tried to call 911, but keep getting cut off. Once, my group was back in Lone Pine, the local number was looked up and the call was made and Search and Rescue was dispatched.

My two cents on the subject.

The WPS folks advise calling Inyo County SAR directly at 760-876-5606. Calling 911 connects to CHP which only delays matters because they don't do mountain rescues. Also, a few months ago, Bob R posted some info about the new Personal Locator Beacons. You might find that worth reviewing.

Anyone who depends on a cell phone is foolish. I've stated the same thing here previously. You have to have clear line of sight to a tower, which means you have to be on a awfully high. All a cell phone does, if you are in the right location, is start SAR a bit sooner. It did nothing for the person who died on chute last year. It's a lot easier not to do something stupid and leaving the trailhead prepared.

My Cingular phone had no signal at the Portal last week.

Bill

Any search and rescue report I have ever read has shown rescuers arriving on the seen a day to several days after the fact. Your best bet for survival in an accident is your own help and the help of others around you. Those that travel solo are at the highest risk. If you do not rely on a SAR team then they just might be able to help you in the end.

Many cell phones are now gps-enabled and should allow the 911 operators (if properly equipped) to determine the location of the caller, at least on digital calls. I'm not sure that the Sherrif's switchboard would be able to do this.

To MBF,

You said that the snowblind hiker was with two other people? And you called SAR for this? This is the type of incident that you and your buddies could have helped, guided this poor guy down the mountain instead of using up valuable resources for somthing more serious. Unless this guys leg was broken he should have been able to self extrcate with the help of his buddies. I have been snowblind and while it was extremly painful I would have been heck of embarresed if a SAR team had been called for me.

>>>I have been snowblind and while it was extremly painful I would have been heck of embarresed if a SAR team had been called for me.<<<

I agree. Tying up a rescue team for this kind of crap is abject nonsense. Sunglasses are within everyone's budget. And if you forget them it's your own fault so don't whine about lost time while you rest at camp and others are on the summit or otherwise having fun in the mountains.

BTW: Moist warm teabags are a good field remedy for snowblindness...Laid directly on close eyelids.