A helicopter from Grand Canyon National Park had to fly to Zion National Park on Monday to rescue an injured canyoneer who was in a party that ignored the advice of rangers/NPS file
It's one thing to have to be rescued by National Park Service rangers when fate doesn't go your way, but to need a rescue after you mocked and ignored a ranger's advice, well, that's pretty brazen-faced.
But that's what happened Monday at Zion National Park, where rangers actually were called out on two search-and-rescue incidents in the Left Fork of North Creek, on a popular permitted route known as “The Subway”.
"One group disregarded and mocked a ranger’s advice when they picked up their permit. The ranger recommended they bring a rope and multiple harnesses for at least one of the rappels, but the leader of the group, who had been there before, said that they could cross the log and find an easier way down," a park release said Tuesday. "When the ranger reported that the log was washed out last year and recommended the gear, the group dismissed the information and left.
"Later, rangers received a report that a member of the group had a knee injury at the top of the last rappel," the release went on. "Since the log that made it easier to cross the creek was gone, members were making a 6-to-7 foot jump. One person had landed badly. A medic and two others responded and spent Monday night with the patient. A helicopter from the Grand Canyon was brought in for a short-haul operation Tuesday morning."
The other incident involved a group that park rangers said made poor decisions, wore the wrong footwear, and lost the route several times.
"After getting lost early in the day, they reached the Subway feature late Sunday night and spent an unexpected night in the canyon," the park reported. "In the morning, they got lost again, passing the exit route, and continuing downstream. At some point they decided to try to climb a cliff face to reach the road. When heat exhaustion set in, they activated their emergency locator and reported a heat related illness. SAR responders were able to locate the group. After administering fluids, rangers assisted the group back to the trailhead."
Zion Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh urged park visitors to appreciate the settings they find themselves in.
“Visitors need to take their safety seriously and act responsibly,” he said. “Park Rangers are here to advise and assist visitors planning challenging trips in the backcountry, but ultimately preparations and proper equipment is the visitor’s responsibility. Given the number of fires throughout the West and the assignment of aviation assets to them, it was fortunate that the Grand Canyon helicopter was able to respond quickly and that the first group had an emergency beacon, but that is not always the case. Please prepare carefully and plan ahead for unexpected events that might occur in this wonderful, but at times, unforgiving landscape.”
Comments
The Park Service should give notice that morons requiring rescue will be charged for cost of rescue. They could start selling back country rescue insurance to all Morons. In fact entrance fee into Park should go up one dolla per person for moron rescue. That way all Morons can contribute to the rescue of other Morons.
Charge them for their stupidity and put them in jail.
thank you for your information
All I see here are emotional, knee-jerk proposals to charge for SAR services out of misplaced anger. The SAR professionals are adamant that it's a bad idea. Those who believe that they'll be charged will allow situations to get worse. SAR face more difficulty situations from people who delay requesting help. NPS strongly opposes it in this article (you'll need to reassemble the link because it gets broken by the comment software):
https://www.nature.nps.gov/ParkScience/Archive/PDF/Article_PDFs/ ParkScience28(3)Winter2011-2012_103-105_Ward_et_al_2854.pdf
YPW - If someone's stupidity delays their rescue, that is their problem not the problem of American taxpayers. People need to take responsibility for their own actions.
I can understand many commenters anger and frustration that 'morons' are not punished for their actions, but search and rescue organizations have long opposed billing for their services:
"...in the Coast Guard’s very similar position. 'If the specter of financial reimbursement hung over the decision to report maritime distress, we could get fewer calls, we would get calls during later stages of emergencies, and more people would die at sea. This factor alone outweighs any consideration of how much money we might recoup' "
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2009/05/billing-search-and-rescue-...
As for the problems of American taxpayers, SAR costs are peanuts compared to the cost of global empire with hundreds of overseas bases and a military budget larger than the next seven countries combined.
Banning the most flagrant individuals sounds appropriate, but just exactly how would this be enforced by an understaffed and underfunded Park Service? Checking every ID at the entrance?
Comparing SAR costs to our military is absurd. The latter is a Constitutionally mandated power and critical to the maintenance of our freedoms. The former has no Constitutional basis and only rewards bad behavior.
Once again why should the American taxpayer subsidize bad decisions? It seems to be a standard theme in the liberal thought process.
Subsidize bad decisions.
Yeah, Ecbuck. All bad decisions are the result of the liberals. Conservatives never make expensive bad decisions. And goddess forbid that libertarians ever enter into this.
Give it a rest, Buck. Not everything is partisan. Campers making bad calls in the wilderness are not a liberal or conservative matter. Not everything here needs to be a major conflagration or constitutional crisis.