The Unit was contacted by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management on Sunday the 13^th of Dec. The Requested at least 10 mountain rescue volunteers to help Snohomish County search for two men lost on Mt. Pilchuck Ten TMRU memebers responded they were: Russ Brinton, John Miner, Cliff Lightfoot, Brian McGinty, Tony O'brien, Cheryl Wells, Juan Ridout and Chris Berryman. They were told to meet at the cache at 4:00 A.M. so they could be at the search base in Snohomish county at 7:00 A.M. What follows is a compilation of two mission reports the were email to me by Russ Brinton and John Miner.

The two Seattle men, ages 21 and 25 were snowshoeing high on Mt. Pilchuck, Mt. Pilchuck is not a beginner snowshoe trip there is steep, avalanche prone terrain along with exposed slopes to the weather that are often windpacked, making it almost necessary to have crampons at times. They were unprepared, inexperienced and did not leave a plan of what they were up to.

Their objective was the lookout. They got to the pass and were traversing around the other side when it got late and they ran into some questionable snow conditions. They tried to traverse around when one of them fell. The weather had moved in, with clouds and snow. They realized they were lost, so they decided to continue down this drainage. They were now on the south side of the peak. They made it below the snowline, where they spent a cold night.

Two hasty teams from Snohomish County had gone in on Sunday night. One team went straight up the old ski area toward the summit, the other team followed the trail up. One of the teams located tracks, which they (both?) followed to the 4200' level where they had to break off the tracking (terrain, weather, etc).

Our mission was to go up and check out the summit where a lookout is located (possible bivouc for them?) and to see if we could pick up the tracks where the others left off. There had been 2-3 inches of snow during Sun. as evidenced by the buildup on the subjects vehicle. (A plow was brought in to clear the road to the end (old ski area) for the base of operations).

The search on Monday consisted of Mountain Rescue personnel only, with teams coming from Tacoma, Everett, Seattle, Olympic. We started up the trail (about 8:35) during our ascent, we heard on the radios that the helicopter had spotted tracks on the south side of the mtn, starting at about 3800' (we were at approx 3200' at the time) So we adjusted the mission to include possiblity of finding and working the tracks the helicopter had spotted. We went up to the end of the tracks and just as we were to continue our ops, we got word that the subjects were definately found and to return to base. All searchers returned to base by a direct descent of the ski area -- an interesting exercise on sno-shoes!!

January's training has been changed to a 2 day SAR Management Course. Tom Miner will be the instructor. Our Wednesday training will be at the cache. The Saturday and Sunday training will be at the Fire Training Center located in Gig Harbor. The class will start promptly at 8 am both days.

Directions:

• Hwy 16 towards Gig Harbor.
• Take the Burnham/N. Rosedale Exit.
• Left on Sehmel.
• Left to Bujacich.
• Left to the driveway just after the Fire Station.

Call Fran McFarland if you need more information #360-236-1028.

This years Annual Banquet commemorated the 40^th Anniversary of Tacoma Mountain Rescue.

We had a great turn-out of 88 people. These folks includes past, present and future (new) members to the unit. Many thanks to our fun speakers: John Simac, Larry Heggerness and Lee Tegner.

Lee had to share some of the spotlight with Delores Tegner. Ed Hrivnak presented the "Big Piton" award to her for all of her involvement and support for the last 40 years. The Unit also thanked the Tegners for their management of the kits by presenting them with a trip to Reno. Bill Weber was given a gift certificate and a heartfelt thanks from the unit for all of his efforts! As always, Shorty Williams was a great MC!

Kudo's to Phil Pletcher and Ken Capron for the door prizes. They were great. Prizes were donated by Backpacker's Supply, Pepsi, Forty Below, Write in the Rain and MSR.

A special thanks to Ed Hrivnak for his vision and efforts on this banquet! Ed traveled from across the country to join us in celebrating our 40^th!!!

Call To Order: 7:40 p.m.

BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:

Alan Givotosky, Stan Kartes, Fran McFarland, Bill Weber, Larry Crum, Phil Pletcher, Ken Capron, Chris Berryman and Jeff Sharp.

GUESTS:

Edward Stevens and Talis Abolins.

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE:

Connie Crum and Dave Treber.

The October minutes were accepted as read.

TREASURER'S REPORT: Larry Crum

• Accepted as read.

OPERATIONS REPORT:

• Jeff Sharp reported on the 11/13 search for a lost hunter in the Packwood area.
• See last months Rucksack for the detaials.

TRAINING REPORT:

• The Wednesday training was "Crime scene management". The Saturday field training was changed due to a mission. Russ Brinton conducted a "Pieps" class.
• Next Training: Avalanche Awareness and Search.
• **Training Change- January's training has changed to a 2 day SAR Management Course. See the Rucksack for details.

EQUIPMENT REPORT: Ken Capron

• The C-Collar is in.
• Labels are on all the rope bags.
• The truck license/emissions test registration was completed.

COMMUNICATIONS REPORT: Stan Kartes

• Stan has new pager clips available. See him if you need one.
• Jim Howe has turned in his pager.
• Marcus Donaldson has a pager - # 253-596-7737 Cheryl Wells has a pager - # 253-596-9801 The Saturday test pages will start again in a couple of weeks.
• The chargers, batteries, harnesses etc… are all in. Stan will be setting up training classes - 6 people at a time. Jeff Sharp is making laminated cards for radio frequencies and codes.

SAFETY AND EDUCATION: Phil Pletcher

• Phil is looking into having a booth at the Home Show March 24 - 28 and the RV Show Feb. 18 - 21.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT: Chris Berryman

• Voted in at Field Support:
  Talis Abolins
  Edward Stevens
  Adam Pope

FINANCE REPORT: Bill Weber

• No finance report.
• Cans should be in about 2 weeks. A page will be sent out for help in unloading.

AIR OPERATIONS REPORT: Jeff Sharp

• Jeff reported on the latest Oversight Committee meeting.

SAR COUNCIL REPORT: Jeff Sharp

• The Council reported that their fundraiser was conducted during a shorter time period than usual.

OLD BUSINESS:

• Bill W. asked Seattle Filmworks for "one-use" cameras. They have donated 3 cameras.
• Ken is looking into a free fire-safe filing cabinet for our records.
• Banquet: 88 People attended
• Alan will be appointing a committee for a future plan for the kits.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Stan will be getting the list together of the 13 most active people per our pager fee policy.
• The truck will be going in for maintenance on Dec. 11^th.
• Fran will be working on a letter of appreciation for employers who allow our members time off for missions and other unit related tasks.
• Phil reported on pro-deals. MSR - we can order twice per year Forty Below has offered us pro deals too.
• Ken is looking into capilene shirts with our logo.
• Alan will be sending thank you's to the companies who donated door prizes.

Good of the Order:

Adjourned: 9:35

The following members attended the Kit party on Dec 2, 1998:

• Shorty Williams
• John Simac
• Larry & Connie Crum
• Ken Capron
• Mary Bachman
• Jim Andrues
• Eddie Steven
• Bill Weber

They made 330 kits.

Remember the kit party is 7:30 P.M. the first Wednesday of the month at 2905 Parkway Dr. W. If you need directions call Shorty Williams at 564-0581. We need your help.

As the new year rolls around it's that time again to pay your $15.00 annual membership dues. Members who have joined the unit after October 1st, 1998 are covered for the next year. Your dues pay for both your memberships in the Tacoma Mountain Rescue Unit and the National Mountain Rescue Association. It also pays for the postage for this wonderfully written little newsletter that you're reading now (I'm not modest, Editor). You have until the 31st of January 1999, after that no more Rucksack and no more 2:00 A.M. calls

©Copyright 1999 Tacoma Mountain Rescue