View Full Version : Lost Denali Hiker calls in on cell phone, still lost....
hopefulhiker
06-18-2008, 21:20
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2008-06-18_D91CQIIG0&show_article=1&cat=breaking
Hm, which is it, still lost or found? Does Fox have it wrong?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,368581,00.html
Jack Tarlin
06-18-2008, 22:04
Tin Man:
They've been found safe and sound.
The Fox story you sent along, which was posted several hours ago, was perfectly correct AT THE TIME it was posted.
4eyedbuzzard
06-18-2008, 22:12
"ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Two women missing for days in Denali National Park have been found and returned to park headquarters.
Park spokeswoman Kris Fister says the women were found Wednesday afternoon outside the park's boundaries on the northern side.
A helicopter picked up the two shortly before 5 p.m., about an hour after the mother of one of the women received a second phone call from her daughter..."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/18/denali.hikers.ap/index.html
Tin Man:
They've been found safe and sound.
The Fox story you sent along, which was posted several hours ago, was perfectly correct AT THE TIME it was posted.
That's what I assumed, but if you follow Hopeful's news link, the date and time is after the foxnews story. And now I see cnn agrees they were found. Wish these news people could keep up.
Bring on the bananas...
:banana:banana:banana
4eyedbuzzard
06-18-2008, 22:33
I'd like to hear some details on exactly what happened. Kind of odd, missing for 5 days on a one night hike, but everybody is okay and all of a sudden being able to make a cellphone call. Something doesn't add up, at least based on the current info.
I'd like to hear some details on exactly what happened. Kind of odd, missing for 5 days on a one night hike, but everybody is okay and all of a sudden being able to make a cellphone call. Something doesn't add up, at least based on the current info.
They ain't talkin'...at least not yet...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080619/ap_on_re_us/denali_park_search
teachergal
06-19-2008, 08:51
Denali Park rescue was dialed in: Outdoors | adn.com (http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/440755.html)
Here's the scoop from the Anchorage Daily News. Seems that they just got off track, very easy to do in Denali - there are no trails and if they are down in the willow it's hard to see where you are going. Above the tree line, it's easy - you can see for miles, but down in the low growing bushes it's hard. Even above the bushes though, the area is sooooo big that it's very hard to see something as small as grizzly bear let alone a human! :)
Cell phone coverage is enormously spotty up there. Last summer when I drove up the Parks Highway from Anchorage I attempted to call my parents and drove 100 miles before my phone was able to connect. In Denali there is a cell coverage at the entrance to the park, but once you go in 10 miles there is no coverage. Where the girls were hiking is right along that edge of cell coverage.
The whole story seems to add up to me.
deeddawg
06-19-2008, 08:52
Trails Illustrated Map of Denali Nat'l Park: $9.95
Suunto A-10 Compass: $12.95
The knowledge of how to use the two together: Priceless
Glad these two were found.
I wonder if they would have been found sooner if they stopped as soon as they realized they were lost and used a whistle to call for help periodically?
Jack Tarlin
06-19-2008, 08:53
Anyone wanna guess if they had a map and compass and knew how to use 'em?
Bare Bear
06-19-2008, 08:58
Therre is probably a good reason for that Boy Scout motto "Be prepared."
4eyedbuzzard
06-19-2008, 09:01
Well, I'm glad they were found safe.
According to the reports they had a stove, and therefore obviously a fire starting source, and were melting snow for water. But they never made a signal fire(smoke) after becoming lost. So much for being "experienced" as quoted in the numerous reports. Sorry, this was what was honestly bugging me about the whole thing. Smoke is generally pretty easy to spot and would (edit: likely) have drawn rescue attention much earlier on in the search.
Again, glad they were found okay.
Monkeywrench
06-19-2008, 09:02
Trails Illustrated Map of Denali Nat'l Park: $9.95
Suunto A-10 Compass: $12.95
The knowledge of how to use the two together: Priceless
Glad these two were found.
I wonder if they would have been found sooner if they stopped as soon as they realized they were lost and used a whistle to call for help periodically?
Maybe once the park officials knew they were alright, and that they were within 5 miles of a road, they should have told them to walk to the road.
There could very well be lots we don't know from these news reports, but it sure sounds like a case of basic incompetence.
warraghiyagey
06-19-2008, 09:07
I bet they were smoochin
4eyedbuzzard
06-19-2008, 09:09
I bet they were smoochin
That's hot. But a fire would have worked better.
warraghiyagey
06-19-2008, 09:10
That's hot. But a fire would have worked better.
Why not have both???:)
4eyedbuzzard
06-19-2008, 09:14
Why not have both???:)
Talk about thread drift. From rescue to tundra munching...
Why not have both???:)
brings to mind a certain soliloquy by katz in AWITW... during a whiteout near Albert Mtn. Bryson asks katz, "you got any better ideas?" and katz takes off from there, in a very imaginative fashion.
LOL
Anyhow, it is important when you are lost not to be in a hurry because people are expecting you.
warraghiyagey
06-19-2008, 09:27
Talk about thread drift. From rescue to tundra munching...
Mmmmmmmmmmmm . . .tuuuuuuundrrraaaaaaaa
Pedaling Fool
06-19-2008, 10:07
Just saw them on FOX, they need to be charged for the money spent on rescue efforts.
Jack Tarlin
06-19-2008, 10:55
True. Everyone's making such a hallaballo, acting like they're intrepid outdoorswomen.
Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted they're OK.
But instead of all this nonsense about how wise they were to carry a phone, somebody should do a story telling everyone in America all the things these two ladies did that was WRONG.
Now THAT would be instructive.
gravityman
06-19-2008, 11:30
Sounds like they had a map and knew where they were on it. It was just tougher terrain than they expected, so it was taking them a long time to get out. Per the videos and their own words.
It doesn't sound like total incompetence. Just bad planning. And they were wearing jeans, so they couldn't be THAT experience. But they would have made it out on their own.
Note that the phone call was to the MOM, not 911. I wonder if that's because they didn't want a 'rescue' but just to let her know they were okay? I doubt it, but obviously they weren't panicked. I give them a fair amount of credit.
Gravity
Jack Tarlin
06-19-2008, 11:34
Credit for what?
Most backcountry searches and rescues.......like this one......are entirely avoidable.
sherrill
06-19-2008, 13:11
I've backpacked the backcountry in Denali. I don't want to speculate on anything that could have happened with these two women until their story is fully told. That being said, before we were issued our permits we had to prove to the ranger we had all the necessary gear to go out (map, compass, bear container - which is issued by them btw) and were assigned to a "zone" that we had to stay within.
Now, unless you stuck to the river(s) or got up on some of the hills, it was very easy to get lost in the alder if you weren't careful. We tended to stay out of thick brush whenever possible out of fear of spooking a bear.
We had a couple of uneasy moments of not being sure of where we were at or where we were going, but we always made sure we had an idea of where the one and only road the buses run on was at as it dissected our zone. Wasn't terribly hard with a compass and the full sun to guide us.
I'm interested in finding out what their story is.
where is lone wolf when you need him
where is lone wolf when you need him
He's too busy moderating the Jack & Warren show on another thread.
He's too busy moderating the Jack & Warren show on another thread.
Um, maybe or more likely protecting his own interests. The Jack and Warren show is too predicatable to be entertaining any more... unless you bring gasoline or a big fan. ;)
Odd Thomas
06-20-2008, 07:18
I bet they were smoochin
Cant wait for the movie! Hope it's for cable! :p
NorthCountryWoods
06-20-2008, 08:19
Sounds like they were either confused about their starting point (which isn't that hard to do in the park) or weren't paying attention to where they were going. They were found outside the area they were supposed to be in.
They had a compass and map, but don't sound like they were proficient in the use of them (no surprise).
NICKTHEGREEK
06-20-2008, 08:33
brings to mind a certain soliloquy by katz in AWITW... during a whiteout near Albert Mtn. Bryson asks katz, "you got any better ideas?" and katz takes off from there, in a very imaginative fashion.
Classic!!!!
atraildreamer
06-21-2008, 11:59
Here is a technique that might have led to a quicker rescue::D
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2008/06/21/hiker-strips-off-bra-to-get-mountain-rescue-86908-20615619/
Hiker strips off bra to get mountain rescue
Jun 21 2008 (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2008/06/21/)
AN American hiker given up for dead by mountain rescuers was saved when she stripped off her bra to get attention.
Jessica Brown, 24, had fallen off a ledge in the Austrian Alps and was stranded injured for 70 hours in freezing temperatures.
But she spotted a cable car on its way up the mountain in Salzburg and quickly flung her bra into a container carrying food as it passed her.
Workers higher up the peak realised it must have been thrown in as a message and sent out a search party.
A rescuer said: "It certainly beats sending up a flare." :rolleyes:
boarstone
06-21-2008, 12:25
maybe they should of added a GPS to their trip, w/coordinates of the boundry lines (roughly) they'd of known when they were straying and could of hit their go-back-to feature to back trail where they started. Provided they turned it on....:-?
Feral Bill
06-21-2008, 12:42
Years ago I worked a summer at Denali and hiked extensively. I find it hard to see how anyone could get lost in the core area of the park. You can see forever in varied and distinctive terrain, and, unless you do not know what side of the one road you are on, just head back that way. The alder thickets are best avoided but still...
Anyone wanna guess if they had a map and compass and knew how to use 'em?
NO, but a WM BISON ,YOU ARE NOT IN NO HARM...FACT.
Jack Tarlin
06-21-2008, 23:16
Um, anyone understand what this guy just said? :rolleyes:
TIDE-HSV
06-21-2008, 23:33
up the mountain in SalzburgI was puzzled, since the only mountain in Salzburg is in the middle of the old city, where the old castle sits, and it's only 1600' (about the same as where I sit), and she should have been able to just yell, rather than shedding a bra. One of the accounts said "near Salzburg," which probably means in the state of Salzburg (Land Salzburg), which does have some pretty impressive alps. I'd like to know exactly where she was, but I can't find anything on it...
Edit: Found it in the Salzburg newspaper. She was on Untersberg, on the Austria/Germany border. Pretty rugged, about 6K meters and only a few miles from Salzburg. She's also OK...
Um, anyone understand what this guy just said? :rolleyes:
THE POINT IS...You get lost any place in the cold ...gear...is what you need.
I go to LakeClark...AK ...COLD IN WINTER.NOT a place i can get help,Like on the AT IN THE WHITES AT -20.WHOLE NEW BALLGAME.AND NO TRAILS IN THE PARK.:-?and pickup day?
I was puzzled, since the only mountain in Salzburg is in the middle of the old city, where the old castle sits...
And a restaurant up there that has an incredible dessert (http://www2.salzburg.info/gastronomie_239.htm) menu.
http://www.hotelamadeus.at/images/content/salzburger_nockerl.jpg
TIDE-HSV
06-22-2008, 11:11
Aha! So you've been there. It's one of my favorite cities in the whole world. I've been back several times. Did you make it out to Hellbrunn, the old prince bishop's castle with all the trick fountains?
Aha! So you've been there. It's one of my favorite cities in the whole world. I've been back several times. Did you make it out to Hellbrunn, the old prince bishop's castle with all the trick fountains?
I don't quite recall, but I do recall the nockerl! My father was born in Vienna, so we got quite the tour... but it was 38 years ago. (The trip to Europe with my parents was my high school "graduation present.")
I have my own story of being almost-lost on a mountain just outside Salzburg. We were on skis, and it was winter 1974, I think. I don't think we were ever in danger, and we made it back into town just after dark -- but I heard from my buddy that a rescue party was being organized to find us.
TIDE-HSV
06-22-2008, 11:53
I like Vienna, also. Just not like anyplace else on earth. I learned my German from folks from Upper Austria, but I struggled with the Viennese dialect. I got to spend about a week there. The husband of the lady from near Linz who helped me a great deal with German was from Vienna, and I got to stay in his sister's apartment. The Heurigen grapes came in ripe while I was there, and all the little houses in Grinzing hung out their grape greenery bundles and opened up the weinstuben in the front of the house. People came from all over Europe and wandered the streets until the wee hours. Wonderful wine, but it has to be drunk "green" - it won't travel...
My old man had a love-hate thing with Austria, having been born there and then fleeing in 1938... pretty much by the skin of his teeth. He refused to travel to Europe until 1963, but made many trips after that. But I think I know where my love of mountains comes from. My first trip to Austria was really quite exciting. The 2nd trip, not so much. We hightailed it to Florence, Italy and found that city much more hospitable. (It helped that my dad had a nice apartment there that we used in his absence.) PS., Bryson's comments about Austria (in Neither Here Nor There (http://www.amazon.com/Neither-Here-nor-There-Travels/dp/0380713802/ref=pd_bbs_sr_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214150855&sr=8-9)) pretty much line up with my own impressions, and my father's.
TIDE-HSV
06-22-2008, 12:20
I'll PM you. We're probably boring people... :)
StarLyte
06-22-2008, 12:55
I'll PM you. We're probably boring people... :)
Hey, no you're not!