The Unit was contacted by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management at 4:14 A.M. on Sunday the 7^th of January. They requested as many Mountain Rescue volunteers as were available to help recover the body of a 22-year-old male who had fallen approx. 80 feet near waterfalls on the Mashel River south of Eatonville, WA.

The subject and some friends had decided to have a beer party on the river on Saturday night. Early in the morning the subject told his friends that he was going for a walk. When he didn't return after a couple of hours his friends became worried and hiked out to their cars and called the Sheriff. They also called the subject's family. The Sheriff decided to wait for first light before beginning the search. The family however began their search of the area with flashlights. They discovered the subject's body at the bottom of an 80-foot cliff near the waterfalls. The Sheriff was able to call in paramedics to check to see if the subject was still alive. They accessed the body by following a 30 to 45 degrees sloped trail to the bottom of the cliff. It was at this time that Mountain Rescue was called to recover the body.

A page was made at 4:30 to meet at the cache a 6:30 A.M. or at the University of Washington Experimental station at the Pack Forest off Highway 7 at 8:00 A.M. Eleven Members responded to the call: Chris Berryman, Rod Lott, Rick Wire, Jim Andrues, Rick Lorenz, Jeff Sharp, Mike Mixon, Alan Givotovsky, Piro Kramar, Ken Capron and Talis Abolins. Also, six members of Pierce County ESAR were called to help with the carry out.

After everyone arrived at the site of the Search Base at Pack Forest it was decided to raise the body up the trail the sheriff and paramedics had used. While Jeff, Mike, Rod and Alan took the litter and body bag to the subject to begin packaging him for the haul, the rest of the team set up a haul system using the 400-foot rope. While some worked on building the system the rest went down the trail setting up change of direction pulleys to make the haul as smooth as possible to the top. After the haul started it went smoothly and the body was raised to the top and turned over to the Pierce County Medical Examiner. Alan called Gus Bush, the in town coordinator, around 10:00 A.M. and said the mission had been completed. Everyone returned safely to their homes

Call to order: 7:40pm

Members in attendance: Alan Givotovsky, Chris Berryman, Stan Kartes, Gus Bush, Bill Weber and Rick Wire

Others in attendance: Tim Greminger, Mike Mixon, and Tracy Berryman

The November minutes were read and corrections made to the permanent records.

TREASURERS' REPORT: Alan Givotovsky

• KIT REPORT: Tracy Berryman
• The year-end report is not available at this time.

EQUIPMENT REPORT:

• The items ordered from Back Country Access have been delayed.

COMMUNICATION REPORT: Stan Kartes

• Pager to be sent to Drain Brenner. Mike Mixon gave his new pager number.

SAFETY EDUCATION: Rick Wire

• Rick may be instructing the BOALPS mountain safety class.

MEMBERSHIP: Chris Berryman

• A list was read of members who owe dues and/or have not fulfilled the activity requirements of the Unit. Due to lack of missions for the year, the requirement to attend at least one mission per year was waived. Those still found wanting will be contacted by phone or mail.
• Gus Bush to arrange Operation Leader meeting to discuss call outs.

TRAINING REPORT: Gus Bush

• Four TMRU members attended the Mini-SAR Management class.
• ICS class in Rocky Mountain National Park was discussed; there was no interest in attending.
• Next month's training to be cold injuries and patient packaging.
• There was a discussion on how to handle injury claims through DEM.

FINANCE REPORT: Bill Weber

• No activity.

MAST REPORT: Bill Weber

• Four current members of MAST attended training put on by Fran Martoglio and Jeff Sharp.

OLD BUSINESS:

• Chris Berryman reported on the continuing Cache remodel and made a motion to request another $2,000 to cover materials. The motion was seconded and passed.
• The septic system was inspected and repaired. The line from the tank to the drain field had failed and was replaced. Chris Berryman made a motion to cover costs beyond the original estimate. Total cost of the work came to $1,100 plus tax. The motion was seconded and passed.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Pam Greminger is interested in working on the Web page. Fran Martoglio will follow up.
• Mike Gauthier is in Denali National Park to research rescue reimbursement. He will be gone three to four months.
• The WMRA meeting to be held at the Mountaineers clubhouse on February 3rd, from 10 to 3.

ADJOURN 9:25pm

Respectfully Submitted,

Chris Berryman

At the Kit party on January 3, due to personnel overload with the Cache remodel, no kits were made
The Kit parties are held from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M., the first Wednesday at the Cache. If you need directions, call 531-2120. We need your help.

Another year has begun, filled with more opportunities!

I'd like to thank ALL of you who have volunteered your precious free time to attend the assorted Kit Parties. In particular: Gus Bush, John Simac, Rick Wire, and Piro Kramar attended 6 or more Kit Parties. Bill Weber, Chris Berryman, Fran McFarland and Ken Capron attended 10 or more!!!! Special thanks to Charlotte and Robert Williams, Jim Andrues, and Mari Backman who have diligently supplied us with components, and the Tegners who continue to offer "rescue support"!

Fran designed and produced a new color sales brochure, and we're using it to actively solicit new customers. Selling these Survival/Storm Kits supports the Unit, and without YOUR help we couldn't do it. Join us in the following months for Kit Parties at the newly renovated Cache, the first and next to last Wed. of every month from 7-9pm.

Hope to see you there!

Tracy Berryman.

Our Cache renovations are nearly complete! We're down to the last 10%. Over 474 volunteer hours have been spent doing framing, drywall, painting, plumbing, and electrical work. A GREAT BIG THANKS to all of you who continue to work on this project. It's not too late to join us; call the hotline #3 for work party dates! We're looking forward to a great big party when this is all done!

See you there!

Chris and Tracy

©Copyright 2000 Tacoma Mountain Rescue