Hiker dies despite daring rescue on Calif. mountain
Despite a daring rescue attempt, one person died after an avalanche on Split Mountain in Inyo County, a search-and-rescue team said.
Three hikers on the peak near Big Pine were caught in a “wet slide avalanche” around 4:30 p.m. on July 2. As the name suggests, wet slide avalanches occur when the snow melts, sending slushy snow and rocks sweeping down the mountainside. After a long, wet winter, California’s snowpack is enormous, and rising temperatures have caused melting, icy water to rush downstream across the state.
Inyo County’s search-and-rescue team surveyed the scene and determined access was going to be difficult: The trail was steep, and there was no easy road access. Four members of the team were taken by helicopter to Red Lake. From there, they hiked 2,000 feet up to the avalanche site. They found two people suffering minor to moderate injuries, and one man who was dead. They assisted the injured people in hiking closer down to Red Lake, where the helicopter took them to safety.
Evening was now closing in, and the search-and-rescue team descended back down to Red Lake to wait out the night. In the morning, a CHP helicopter picked up one of the rescuers to attempt to recover the deceased person. Weather conditions were still too dangerous, however, and they aborted the attempt. Not willing to give up, the searchers hiked all the way back up to the site and put the man’s body in a litter, which they lowered with ropes to a place where he could be retrieved via helicopter.
Inyo County Search and Rescue/Handout
The identity of the deceased man has not been released.
“Combine snow with inexperience and you have a formula for an accident,” Inyo County search-and-rescue said in a statement. “The warm temperatures are creating very unforgiving snow conditions. If you slip while on a steep, soft snow slope, you likely will not be able to stop your fall. Furthermore, melting snow can suddenly release rocks on steep slopes, creating an unusually high risk of rockfall.”
The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said this is their “fourth serious mission in three weeks.”
“Six people have lost their lives in Inyo and Mono counties this season in tragic incidents involving snow, swift water, and extreme heat,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “... It’s critical to recognize that conditions this year are unprecedented with the amount of runoff we’re seeing in creeks and rivers and the volume of snow still left to melt in the backcountry. We urge everyone recreating outdoors or traveling in intense heat to take these dangers seriously! Don’t become the next tragedy.”
Officials suggest visiting a lake instead of rivers or even creeks right now, as waterways are “running fiercely cold and very fast.”
It’s been a deadly summer in California’s parks. In the last few weeks alone, two people have died falling off waterfalls, a child was swept down river and drowned, a backpacker died in Yosemite and a Bay Area man died on a difficult trail.
Source: SFGATE
