From the Grand Canyon...

[ck1]

This showed up on today's Morning Report...thought it might be of interest...

Grand Canyon National Park (AZ)
Search and Short-Haul Rescue


On the morning of December 29, Xiaochao Xu, 30, began a day hike down the Hermit Trail, advising his wife that he’d return by 5 p.m. As Xu was returning to the rim that afternoon, a severe winter snowstorm blew in and he became disoriented and lost the trail. Xu’s wife camped overnight in their vehicle at the trailhead awaiting him; when he failed to return by the following morning, she reported him as overdue. An incident investigator was immediately assigned and personnel were positioned at the trailhead in case Xu emerged. A hasty search was begun by searchers in the park helicopter and on the ground, interviews were conducted with backcountry hikers, and attraction techniques were employed. At 4 p.m., Xu’s tracks in the snow were spotted from the helicopter and he was found stranded several hundred feet below the rim near Pima Point. Xu was standing on a small ledge where he had bivouacked overnight. The low temperature that night had been three degrees below zero. Xu was wearing only minimal clothing, which had become soaked, and did not have adequate gear for the situation. Fearing that he would not survive another night in sub-freezing temperatures, search managers decided to extract Xu immediately via helicopter short-haul. The operation was made difficult by the limited remaining daylight, steep terrain with loose rock, and snowy and icy conditions. Ranger Bil Vandergraff was lowered to Xu’s location via short-haul. Xu was lifted out and taken to an ambulance at Pima Point. He was evaluated and found to be in extremely good condition considering the conditions he’d endured. Xu was located about three-quarters of a mile from the point where he’d deviated from the trail. Hunter Bailey was IC; Marc Yeston was ops chief.
[Submitted by Ken Phillips, SAR Coordinator]


fyi - a "short haul" means, (I believe I'm correct here, please chime in if I'm wrong)...a short haul is when a rescuer is suspended at the end of fixed line from the helicopter . The pilot positions the helicopter to place the guy as close to the rescuee as possible...the rescuer then clips the guy to his harness, and the pilot lifts the two up, dangling at the end of the line, and flies to a safe landing area. The PJs up at Denali have a term for the guy at the end of the line, but as this is a family show...I won't share it..
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-Colin

"The Journey is the Destination"

[evenstar]

Lot of heroes in this world and not just cops and fire fighters!
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John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902

[Shawn]

I think of these guys every time I hear some bozo bashing "government workers."
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The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

[maryphyl]