From: ted@nmsu.edu (Ted Dunning)
Subject: not just a trip report
Reply-To: ted@nmsu.edu
Organization: Computing Research Lab
Distribution: rec
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 06:15:59 GMT



i thought that a quick summary of what happened last thursday would
make an interesting counterpoint to the recent spate of trip reports.

it was 4:30 when the call got to me.  a kid was reported stuck on the
northeast face of the rabbit ear.  this report was later changed to
the southeast face of the rabbit ear.  of course, it was a problem
right away since there are actually three rabbit ears (named before
anatomical correctness was as fashionable) right next to each other.
anyway, the state mounted patrol and the local search and rescue
groups had decided that they needed some help and so they were hoping
that the southwest mountaineers could be of some assistance.

unfortunately, the mountaineers aren't what they once were.  at one
time, the club was able to put together enough people, gear and
leaders to perform a 10 pitch vertical evacuation by fixing nearly all
the pitches simulataneously.  now it is hard to find enough people to
do any sort of vertical evacuation.  we do have a fair number of
people who know the mountains well, but not many who have done much
rescue work.

in any case, it seemed that this case would be different from most
organ mountain rescues.  the 30 year average is 1-2 tourist bodies
pulled out of the organs per year with essentially no live recoveries.
in this case, the victim had been left on a good sized ledge by their
companion who had managed to get out and go for help.  if two days
without water hadn't baked the kid, and a night hadn't frozen him, we
might well actually get a live one.  i was hoping that this would turn
into a case of guiding the victim rather than recovering the body.

i got to the rescue base at 5:45 after collecting my gear and such
from the house and grabbing a quick snack.  my wife started working
the phones to try to find me a partner for the night or a full team
for the morning.  at the base i found it was actually the southeast
face of the rabbit ears massif, and that a team had been walking for
3-4 hours already.  of course, since they didn't know what they were
doing, they would probably either kill themselves or take another 12
hours to get where they were going.

the sherrif and state patrol types offered me anything that they had
which is quite a switch from the traditional situation.  i rejected
the pack horses (they would only be able to help for the first mile
and we would outwalk them in any case), but asked for and got people
to help carry gear.  the only unfortunate part was that one was an out
of shape rescue type (the fittest they had, though), one was the
victims former partner, and the other was the victim's best friend.
it wasn't not the best selection.

we were on the trail at 6:20 PM and it was immediately clear that the
rescue team member wasn't going to be able to hack it.  even on the
road and easy first part of the trail he was not able to maintain a
fast walk and he didn't look nearly agile enough to handle the 3rd
class work that would make up most of the approach.  the first rescue
team was still toiling their way up a they bushy gully next to orp and
were (optimistically!!) thinking of traversing across to the victim's
supposed position.  they didn't seem to understand what difficult 5th
class terrain meant.  we, on the other hand, were going up the back
way.

at the mouth of the canyon, we left the rescue team member as `radio
relay'.  in fact, it was more like he wanted to upchuck in peace.  we
continued up the canyon on the increasing obscure trail and into
increasing darkness.  my best time up this canyon was 2:30, but that
was with a very strong partner with essentially no load in daylight
conditions.  tonight we had very light packs (about 20 pounds), but
route finding was difficult and the kids who were with me were not the
fastest walkers (not that i am right now, either).  they did have
heart, though, and kept themselves right on the edge of what they
could do without griping at all.  we made the summit about 9pm.  the
other rescue party had not made the ridge yet.

we were unable to contact the victim by whistling.

we were able to hear echoes off the opposite wall of the big windy
canyon. 

so we started a fire and pulled out jackets.  the victim and his
friend had spent the day trying to climb the peak.  they hadn't taken
water, warm clothes, sunglasses or sunscreen and had been wearing tank
tops and shorts.  this was the end of the second day and the beginning
of the second night.  temperatures at 7000 feet were probably going to
be in the 40's and i really didn't expect to find the kid alive.

perhaps the highlight of the trip was that i got to try out my theory
that i could crochet a sleeping mat out of my rope.  i couldn't
remember quite how to do double crochet, but single crochet worked
pretty well.  the result was a mat about 3 feet by 18 inches by an
inch and a half.  it was a little lumpy in spots but it definitely
insulates better and seems to work better than a coiled rope.

we snuggled in around the fire as we listened to the radio chatter
from base.  they were talking about who would be making the food run.
we were sharing our banana and saving our three tiny little apples for
breakfast.  the helicopter from el paso had been unable to hover near
the peaks so they were discussing calling in a larger unit from
albuquerque.  we turned off the radio at about 10 and tried to rest.

when we checked in at 5:30 the next morning we heard the good and the
bad news.

the bad news was that the albuquerque chopper wouldn't be making it
down.

the good news was that the victim had decided that they might as well
try the down climb as spend another night on the ledge.  he had walked
out at 11:30 the night before full of cactus and somewhat hypothermic.

we had a fast walk down the hill (the kids _were_ kind of blown away
by the view in the morning) and short drive into town.  i decided to
can work (other than a morning meeting) and take a nap.  it seems that
all the rescues i go on turn out this way.  not that i mind.  i do
wish that they would call me earlier next time.



and it was a good excuse for a weekday walk.

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