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Thread: Alcatraz Rescue

  1. #1

    Alcatraz Rescue

    Salt Lake Man Rescued In Wayne County


    (KUTV) A 55-year-old Salt Lake man was hiking with two coworkers in Alcatraz Canyon, 15 miles northeast of Hanksville on Thursday afternoon, when apparently slipped and became wedged in a narrow slot canyon.


    According to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office his coworkers worked for several hours trying to free the man, but were unsuccessful and had to go for help.


    Search and Rescue crews weren't able to reach the victim on Friday, but resumed the search Saturday morning.


    A Utah Highway Patrol helicopter spotted the man at around 9:30 a.m. Officials say the man was uninjured but seemed to be suffering from hypothermia.

    http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories...vid_7104.shtml

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  4. #3
    Sounds like he spent the night alone? Obviously not enough known about the situation from that little article but making sure the poor guy wasn't alone would be a high priority for me. Must have been one long night.

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  6. #4
    A chopper spotted him.... Does that mean he escaped Alcatraz on his own and walked out???

  7. #5
    It's the news... I wouldn't read to much into their "facts" until the rest of the story comes out. By spotted they could mean his friends, or one of his friends flew in with them and pointed the spot out. Why they were using a chopter in the first place is kinda strange.


    Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

  8. #6
    Poor guy - that was most likely a cold, miserable night. At least he's still alive...
    It's only "science" if it supports the narrative.

  9. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Iceaxe View Post
    It's the news... I wouldn't read to much into their "facts"
    Kinda like how they have Alcatraz pinpointed on their google map near the San Rafael River...

  10. #8
    I have some first-hand info about this one. Laura and I came home late Saturday night after a couple days in the Roost. We took with us our friend Jeff (who is about our age) and his 17 year old son Mitch, and Mitch's friend Chris. Jeff and Mitch have joined us in a few Zion trade routes plus Checkerboard earlier this summer. We have never hiked with Chris but know him and his family pretty well. This was his first canyoneering experience. Jeff is athletic but not very fit, the teens are both athletic and fit. I give their background to help understand why I made some decisions on Friday. Also of note is that I haven't done Alcatraz yet.

    We left Draper on Friday morning and made it to Alcatraz trail head around noon. Our plan for the weekend was to do Alcatraz in the afternoon, then find a place to camp and do Not Mindbender the next morning(Saturday). There was a truck parked at the big drop with a rope still attached. After close inspection we decided to use it rather than park my truck next to it and set up another rig. After gearing up, Laura went down, then Mitch and Chris. Before Jeff could drop in, a couple came running/walking the rim towards us, and one of them(named Brandon) asked: "Do you have a satellite phone?" I answered that I didn't but did have my Spot and that we could get a strong mobile signal up on the hill to the west. He then told us they had a friend stuck in the canyon, at what I believe is the crux, right before the last potholes and the final rap. Their friend got stuck around 7:00 pm on Thursday. When they couldn't free him they decided to go for help. They got lost in the dark, spent the night "under a rock" and then eventually made it back to the trail head (and us) about 1:00 Friday.

    Now I have half my group at the bottom of the rap and some decisions to make. We decided to have Jeff tell Laura what was going on while Brandon and I drove up the hill to call for help. It seemed prudent for me to communicate with rescue. A call to 911 got the sheriff's dispatcher who then had a deputy and later SAR call me back. We gave them all the necessary info and they began to mobilize SAR. It was about 1:30 and they estimated they would be there by 4:00. During the conversation with SAR, I told them I was a member of Salt Lake County SAR and offered to help. They requested, and I agreed, that my group not continue to descend the canyon.

    So now we have to get Laura, Mitch and Chris back up to the rim. I wasn't comfortable with having them ascend the big free hanger so we looked for a way to climb out. It looked like there was a walk up down canyon on the east side but they couldn't find a way to get over there. They were able to scramble up to 30' below the rim on the right side. We anchored a rope off the truck about 100 yds down canyon where I rapped down to them. I taught them how to ascend and we spent an hour getting everyone back up. Now what do we do? It was decided we should go find a place to camp and plan for the next day's canyon. By the time we were ready to take off it was about 3:30. We checked with Brandon and his (girl)friend to see if they needed anything and we all agreed or hoped SAR would be arriving any minute. It felt like we should be passing SAR vehicles as we drove back north toward RR Spring road and the Mindbender area to camp. We never saw them but did see the DPS helicopter fly over at about 6:00 pm. I was somewhat surprised to read that they didn't find or get the guy out until 9:30 the next morning. The news may be wrong about that.

    Okay armchair rescuers/canyoneers, should I have gone down canyon on my own or with Laura to help the guy? What would you have done in that situation? Honest evaluation is appreciated.

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  12. #9
    Moderator jman's Avatar
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    Alcatraz Rescue

    Thanks for your first-hand narrative.

    Seems like you were there at a good time and made good calls!

    Too many chefs can complicate things, or just simply, get in the way. And when too many leaders go in to help, sometimes their party will start to make other decisions and get the group more confused, lost, split up, etc. It's kinda along the principle of when you get lost - is to stay put and don't make things worse.

    I would of stayed until at least the first SAR vehicle arrived before ditching em just in case they needed help, food, water, etc.



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  13. #10
    Content Provider Emeritus ratagonia's Avatar
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    Since you asked...

    As a SAR team member, you know it takes way way longer to perform a rescue than most people think. Since no actual injuries were indicated, going in is entirely optional.

    But, if you had two competent people available (you and Laura), I woulda taken some food, water, warm clothing etc. down in and at least made contact with them, let them know help was on the way. You mighta been able to unstick them. 24 hours of freezin' their whatevers off might have motivated them.

    THEN they would have gotten out that night, a complex SAR response could have been avoided, and you'd be the HERO!!!

    But... yeah. Pretty optional.

    Yes, there is an easy climb out a ways down that ledge. Good call not doing the big climb out.

    Tom

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  15. #11
    I have spent a night stuck in a slot before, it's one of the more unpleasant experiences in my life. Stuck, cold and alone would be brutal. Just having someone to talk with would be a huge help.


    If I was with a relatively strong group (my normal partners in crime) I probably would have descended the canyon and tried to correct/help the situation.


    If I was with my wife and kids I probably would have brought them to the rim, made camp, and then soloed down to help fixing ropes/webbing at the two drops.


    But understand, I have done the canyon several times and know what to expect. If I had never done the slot before I probably would have retreated.


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  17. #12
    I have been to Alcatraz a couple times. I would not want to be stuck in that dark cold canyon with all the spiders. Knowing that it was Wayne county SAR I would have gone in to help the guy. They were limited on their rope knowledge last time I saw them in action.
    The man thong is wrong.

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  19. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Iceaxe View Post
    I have spent a night stuck in a slot before, it's one of the more unpleasant experiences in my life. Stuck, cold and alone would be brutal. Just having someone to talk with would be a huge help.
    If I was with a relatively strong group (my normal partners in crime) I probably would have descended the canyon and tried to correct/help the situation.
    If I was with my wife and kids I probably would have brought them to the rim, made camp, and then soloed down to help fixing ropes/webbing at the two drops.
    But understand, I have done the canyon several times and know what to expect. If I had never done the slot before I probably would have retreated.
    totally agree with Ice,
    1) you need to make your group/familysafe,2) assess your skills,strenght and familiaity with terrain,if you did alcatraz many times you know what is in there, if you never been there probably will not be wise going down.
    4)as Tom said if your group is STRONG you can bring supply (food water clothing warm hands) carry extra ropes and sling and see if you can set an hauling system and try to unwedged the guy from above and below.
    but that require solid skills and very cool head otherwise you risk more wedged people and more trouble for SAR.
    alcatraz is skinny at spot and with mud stem high can require a lot of energies.
    really good to have the little Scooter in those type of canyon
    AKA:a strong skinny small person that can go in front and direct bigger people up when stuff get too tight, been there for emotional support sporting the most beautiful smile you can have when the butterfly start to go in your brain.

    or if you are a little on the big side contact ScottP and ask for advices before you get in a possible narrow canyon, he tested them all so is prospective is very helpful.
    never ask a skinny person advice what to do when stuck,because usually they never get stuck badly!!!!!

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  21. #14
    I am also a member of a SAR team and have done Alcatraz. The amount of time and effort it would take to extract a subject out of the most narrow parts of Alcatraz is mind boggling. One hell of a task for sure. Technical rescues here in Joshua Tree seem to take forever, and 99.9% of them occur in wide open spaces, 30 minutes from town. Has anyone here participated in a rescue similar to the Alcatraz incident? I'm sure that is an interesting story.

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  23. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by hesse15 View Post
    1) you need to make your group/familysafe,2) assess your skills,strenght and familiaity with terrain,if you did alcatraz many times you know what is in there, if you never been there probably will not be wise going down.
    4)as Tom said if your group is STRONG you can bring supply (food water clothing warm hands) carry extra ropes and sling and see if you can set an hauling system and try to unwedged the guy from above and below.
    but that require solid skills and very cool head otherwise you risk more wedged people and more trouble for SAR.
    alcatraz is skinny at spot and with mud stem high can require a lot of energies.
    really good to have the little Scooter in those type of canyon
    AKA:a strong skinny small person that can go in front and direct bigger people up when stuff get too tight, been there for emotional support sporting the most beautiful smile you can have when the butterfly start to go in your brain.

    or if you are a little on the big side contact ScottP and ask for advices before you get in a possible narrow canyon, he tested them all so is prospective is very helpful.
    never ask a skinny person advice what to do when stuck,because usually they never get stuck badly!!!!!

    Wow! This reminds me of when we last visited Alcatraz exactly 2 years ago. When we first visited Alcatraz 4 months earlier in June it was bone dry and for the most part it was a cake walk, there were a few tight spots here and there but moderate stemming for the larger canyoneers was the solution. Spring forward to October 2011 and Alcatraz is now full a water. What a difference that made!. The water in Alcatraz upped the challenge level of the canyon. The slippery mud made stemming very hard and the going a lot slower. I was tempted to try and squeeze thru rather than climb. That made for some scary almost get stuck moments. Standing and sloshing through cold waste deep water without wet suits zaps ones energy levels. Unfortunately one large member of our group did become stuck, really stuck, and what I read maybe in the same place that this person last week got stuck at. Fortunately for us we had a various sized group members with us sprinkled ahead and behind the stickee . It took 4 of us about 35 to 45 minutes to get our guy unstuck. It seemed like an eternity to the stuckee. Our little Scooter guy was able to get below and provide a shoulder to push up on. I stemmed up and above and provided a piece of webbing for our stuck guy to pull up on. Another two medium sized individuals in the group provided a push from behind and up. With some squirming, pushing, pulling, grunting and screaming we all got past this crux. It was an exhausting affair.
    Don't believe everything you think.

    -Borrowed from a bumper sticker I believe

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  25. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by french_de View Post
    Spring forward to October 2011 and Alcatraz is now full a water. What a difference that made!. .
    i consider alcatraz a summer or warmer time canyon, when is to hot to do other stuff ,is always cool down there and the exit is not very long and will not like to shred to pieces my wetsuit there

  26. #17

    I will always be eternally grateful

    I was the individual rescued from Alcatraz on Saturday at 9:30 on the 29th I will always be indebted to those who came to my aid that day. My wife and my five children are thankful for your efforts.

  27. #18
    Great to hear from you!

  28. #19
    If anyone can provide me with the group that rescued me I would appreciate it. I would like to thank them properly. Particularly I remember a Officer Russell. thank you MJ

  29. #20
    IBM Jolley, I

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