Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

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Cy Kaicener

 
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Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by Cy Kaicener » Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:51 pm

Yesterday, Inyo County Search and Rescue and the CHP – Central Division Air Operations collaborated to rescue an injured climber on Mt. Abbot (13,711'). A solo 24-year-old male climber fell late Sunday while climbing a technical chute on the south-east side of Mt. Abbot. He sustained several serious injuries but was able to signal for assistance through his satellite device.

To rescue the patient, an Inyo SAR volunteer was lowered on a 100 foot cable from the CHP helicopter to the patient's position on the side of the cliff. After the patient was rigged in a harness, the CHP helicopter hoisted the patient and the Inyo SAR rescuer from the cliff face one at a time. During the hoist operation, the edge of the helicopter’s rotors were only 20 feet from the face of the cliff, requiring extreme skill and nerves on the part of the California Highway Patrol flight crew. Inyo SAR and the Inyo County Sheriff's Office would like to heartily thank the CHP - Central Division Air Operations crew for their professionalism and skill while aiding in yesterday's mission! .

The Inyo SAR team works in cooperation with and under the authority of the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department. Interested in joining SAR or donating? Check out the Inyo SAR website at http://inyosar.com for more information.

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sierraman

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by sierraman » Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:57 am

When I was climbing in the Alps I joined the French Alpine Club, primarily to obtain rescue insurance (and also to use their system of climbers huts). I'm not aware of any mountain rescue insurance available here in California. My Sutter Health insurance covers ambulance trips, but I doubt if that includes CHP helicopters hovering 20 feet from the east face of Mt. Abbot. Does anyone know, will the unfortunate climber described in this post be getting a 5 figure bill for his rescue operation?

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SJD

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by SJD » Tue Jun 27, 2017 2:53 am

The CHP does not send any bills to people they rescue.

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stinkysox77

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by stinkysox77 » Tue Jun 27, 2017 3:16 pm

The welfare state is alive and well! Your mistakes gladly covered by California tax payers.

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96avs01

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by 96avs01 » Tue Jun 27, 2017 5:38 pm

I always thought CalStar membership was one mechanism to limit the potential for the 5 figure transport bill...

And pay up your AAC membership for their Global Rescue coverage package for members.

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Tonka

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by Tonka » Tue Jun 27, 2017 5:48 pm

stinkysox77 wrote:The welfare state is alive and well! Your mistakes gladly covered by California tax payers.


What is this country coming to? There are times when we help people without questioning the cost.

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stinkysox77

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by stinkysox77 » Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:23 pm

Tonka wrote:
stinkysox77 wrote:The welfare state is alive and well! Your mistakes gladly covered by California tax payers.


What is this country coming to? There are times when we help people without questioning the cost.



From a state that's almost 500 billion in debt and a country that's 20 trillion in debt, we might want to question that cost.

edit: also a 5 figure sum seems like a small price to pay to have your life saved, so if you're not willing to pay that you might want to reconsider your actions

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mrchad9

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by mrchad9 » Tue Jun 27, 2017 8:40 pm

If your house catches fire when the fire department shows up do you want to have to start negotiating prices with them before they start to put it out? What if your kids run off and are abducted should the police and FBI send you a bill before they start tracking them down? Or if your girlfriend is raped should she have to pay to have her rape kit done?

Free rescues is not welfare state... it is a benefit of a society we are contribute towards. Besides most of those helicopters are paid for with seized drug money... what's wrong with charging organized crime for mountain rescues? That rescue does not raise taxes on anyone...

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Tonka

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by Tonka » Wed Jun 28, 2017 5:55 am

edit: also a 5 figure sum seems like a small price to pay to have your life saved, so if you're not willing to pay that you might want to reconsider your actions


I'm not going to get into the political CA debt thing but I think there are thousands of dirtbag climbers out there without 5k to there name. Should they stay out of the back country?

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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by SJD » Wed Jun 28, 2017 7:33 am

From the CHP (as previously posted on the web after a rescue they made):

"CHP - Coastal Division Air Operation: It’s not uncommon to read comments on our posts critical of those being rescued. While we sometimes share the same frustrations, we also recognize the circumstances are rarely as black and white as people may perceive. True, there is hardly a rescue we’ve performed where the person(s) did not contribute, in some manner, to the creation of their own predicament. Yet this is why we strive to recognize our shared fallibility as human beings and try to demonstrate compassion and understanding. We never ask why someone needs rescue; we simply do our best to preserve every life. Most of our readers will not know that if we were to charge for our services, it would change our status with the FAA. So, we cannot legally charge for our air rescue services.

Without any idea what the millions of specific services will look like, the CHP is funded each year to provide exceptional public service. Whether you get in a crash on the 101 or find yourself stranded in the wilderness, the CHP is able to help…without making judgment as to which services should be reimbursed and which would go uncharged. Thankfully we’re able to do this! In some instances parties are charged for criminal acts (such as the rock climber rescued off Morro Rock last year). But that is up to the agency having legal authority over the area to investigate and file charges. Even though we’re a law enforcement agency, we are very rarely the agency with jurisdiction when performing rescue services.

The purpose of our posts is to provide an inside view of the varied services we provide each week. Facebook has provided us with a wonderful avenue to share so many events that previously went unreported. We thank you sincerely for continuing to support the work we do."

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stinkysox77

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by stinkysox77 » Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:51 pm

mrchad9 wrote:If your house catches fire when the fire department shows up do you want to have to start negotiating prices with them before they start to put it out? What if your kids run off and are abducted should the police and FBI send you a bill before they start tracking them down? Or if your girlfriend is raped should she have to pay to have her rape kit done?

Free rescues is not welfare state... it is a benefit of a society we are contribute towards. Besides most of those helicopters are paid for with seized drug money... what's wrong with charging organized crime for mountain rescues? That rescue does not raise taxes on anyone...



No, these are all reasonable social services, that protect you from things that are mostly beyond your control. This was an instance of someone taking a known risk and they should be held responsible for the cost to get them out of their own predicament. As someone stated they can't actually charge due to FAA regulations, I'm sure if they really wanted to they could get a wavier on that though. And with 500 billion in debt, I'm not buying that drug money covered the cost of this. Free rescue from a situation you got yourself into is a welfare state, people need to be held accountable for their actions. As I said earlier a 5 figure bill is a small price to pay to have your life saved.

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stinkysox77

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by stinkysox77 » Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:58 pm

Tonka wrote:
edit: also a 5 figure sum seems like a small price to pay to have your life saved, so if you're not willing to pay that you might want to reconsider your actions


I'm not going to get into the political CA debt thing but I think there are thousands of dirtbag climbers out there without 5k to there name. Should they stay out of the back country?


Yes, if they can not afford to pay for a mistake they might make while in the backcountry they should reconsider their actions if they can not afford to get themselves out of a situation they get themselves into.

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thegib

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by thegib » Wed Jun 28, 2017 4:16 pm

US and CA debt is money that we the people owe to ourselves. It's often called 'investment'. Certainly some expenditures make more sense than others, but don't pretend that all debt is bad.
And rescuing hapless people for free makes it easier to appreciate the CHP the other 364 days in a year.

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mrchad9

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by mrchad9 » Wed Jun 28, 2017 7:14 pm

stinkysox77 wrote:
mrchad9 wrote:If your house catches fire when the fire department shows up do you want to have to start negotiating prices with them before they start to put it out? What if your kids run off and are abducted should the police and FBI send you a bill before they start tracking them down? Or if your girlfriend is raped should she have to pay to have her rape kit done?

Free rescues is not welfare state... it is a benefit of a society we are contribute towards. Besides most of those helicopters are paid for with seized drug money... what's wrong with charging organized crime for mountain rescues? That rescue does not raise taxes on anyone...



No, these are all reasonable social services, that protect you from things that are mostly beyond your control. This was an instance of someone taking a known risk and they should be held responsible for the cost to get them out of their own predicament. As someone stated they can't actually charge due to FAA regulations, I'm sure if they really wanted to they could get a wavier on that though. And with 500 billion in debt, I'm not buying that drug money covered the cost of this. Free rescue from a situation you got yourself into is a welfare state, people need to be held accountable for their actions. As I said earlier a 5 figure bill is a small price to pay to have your life saved.

If your kid runs away of their own free will and is then abducted then that is a situation they created... yet the police and FBI don't charge for it. If you leave your stove on or fall asleep smoking a cigarette the fire department does not charge for putting out the fire. If you walk into a bad neighborhood and are assaulted the police don't come after you for your mistakes. This is no different. If you don't like it then just get your value back by going into the backcountry and utilize the free rescue services yourself if anything goes wrong.

thegib brings up a good point too. If CHP didn't provide free rescues they really would have no redeeming qualities left. We certainly could do without them hiding behind freeway onramps or sneaking around between the bushes to see who is in a hurry to get somewhere.

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fatdad

 
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Re: Fall and injury on Mt Abbott

by fatdad » Thu Jun 29, 2017 6:22 am

To paraphrase Oliver Wendell Holmes (former Head Justice of the US Supreme Court): "I like paying taxes; with them I buy civilization."

So much in this country is subsidized by you and me. Wall Street bailouts (which include obscene "bonuses" for the execs who ran their companies into the ground); tax breaks for corporations who lay off workers, cut benefits and ship jobs overseas; Superfund costs to clean up after companies that were allowed to pollute in the name of free enterprise; Medicaid for opiod junkies. All this and you're complaining about a rescue?

For the record, I and a partner were rescued from the top of Clyde Minaret about 15 yrs. ago after my buddy pulled off a loose block that fell with him 10 ft. and landed in his lap. On the ride out, the crew told us that missions like ours was their best source of real life training. The system works just fine.

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